There Where When Is Now, Book 3
by TokehGecko
Summary: Starts a small month after Book 2. It's also a little bit humor, or an attempt at it. Watch Naruto, Neji, Sasuke and Gaara as they grow as Shinobis and as men... Jounin Exam! Chapter 16 is up!
1. Prologue

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Author's Note: So, here we are again... I hope I'll do this ok… Anyway, just to state a few things:

Uzumaki Naruto no longer has the Kyuubi inside of him, but he has his power, his speed, his chakra… his everything. Hyuga Neji is the only Hyuga who is able to withstand the secret hand seal that will activate the Curse Seal on his forehead. Uchiha Sasuke is growing stronger without the use of the Curse Seal. Orochimaru and Itachi are still alive… Gaara returned to Sand Village… I'll describe how that went in the next chapter probably…

Err.. well, and all other things you'll find out by reading, which I hope you'll do. Oh, and another thing. This fic will NOT have YAOI in it, no Yaoi. I don't dislike it, really, I just don't read or write it.

I'll focus a bit more on Leaf Village, but Sand Village will also be in the picture, Leaf Village just a little bit more. I won't tell what the pairings are going to be, but you'll find out soon enough, not in this chapter, though, heh…

Anyway, the main plot for this book is about how Naruto, Sasuke, Neji and Gaara grow in their own Villages. It's my first try at humor so please don't yell… please? I tried romance before with Evangelion Fanfiction and it went pretty, just a little, little bit, well. Maybe worse, though, since I never finished that Evangelion fanfic.

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The Akatsuki War had mostly left Leaf Village in shambles. Months had passed and still it was very apparent the Village lived through a war. Of course there wasn't any smoke or fires, but debris was everywhere and few buildings were standing. The Hokage Tower had already been rebuild, this time a lot more massive than the previous one. Of course the first thing that had to be arranged was that everyone had a place to sleep. Genins and Chuunins were working together to repair the entire Village. The Konoha Gates were also one of the first things that had to be repaired.

Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, had been travelling in these last months, to secure to have Allies in every Country. The Sand was a sure ally. The Stone was in the same predicament as Leaf Village and was also still on 'repair state.' Not to mention that two of Leaf's Shinobis were a little responsible for that. Indeed, Hyuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto were the ones, accompanied with Gaara, who had actually brought down the Stone Village, said to be the Village with the strongest defense. But no one ever mentioned that again… Still, the Stone is also an ally of the Leaf. The only Village that was probably an enemy was Sound, but the Village was small compared to the Leaf. On top of that, no one knew where the Kage of the Sound was. Perhaps Orochimaru had returned to the Sound, perhaps not.

Tsunade left Jiraiya to try and arrange things in Leaf while she was gone. She didn't really expect the old hermit to do anything besides collecting his so called data for his own 'Books.' It was a surprise really, when he even forced Jounins to help on the repairs. It seems Jiraiya still felt something towards the Leaf. Besides that the Village possessed many beautiful women.

Jiraiya smiled as he stood on top of the new Hokage Tower. Not because he was proud of all the working Shinobi he could see all around or because he could see the willpower of his old Village, but because he could see many things with his new self-built binoculars. It had a larger range than all of the previous ones. He snickered madly as he watched the bathhouses. Until someone ruthlessly grabbed him from behind and threw him backwards, almost off of the Hokage Tower.

Jiraiya smiled in embarrassment as he noticed who it was. "Heh, so you're back already, Tsunade? I'm surprised I didn't notice it." Jiraiya said as he looked at his new binoculars. 'Someone like Tsunade I should have noticed with this thing… The bathhouses are pretty close to the Konoha Gates too…'

**There Where When is Now, Book 3**

Chapter 1: Prologue

It wasn't really something anyone would enjoy. You'd think for saving the Village you'd get a more entertaining mission. He wasn't enjoying repairing the Village at all. Looking sideways he saw Sasuke and Neji have the same scowl on their faces as he had. Naruto sighed as he carelessly punched another wooden board in place. He groaned as he watched how the part of the house they were working on fell to the ground. He had been working on his part for about two hours now and now it was all down again.

Sasuke couldn't help but laugh, but he did it very shortly as he watched Naruto glare at him. Neji simply chuckled at the scene. "Naruto, that's the third time already…"

Naruto huffed and turned his back to Neji, before starting all over again. "Hmph! I don't care! This all is stupid anyway! I hate still being Chuunin!"

Neji frowned at Naruto. "It doesn't really matter whether you're a Chuunin or not. Even Jounins are helping in repairing everything. Besides, the Village is almost back to its original state."

Sasuke sighed as he was easily and quickly repairing than what Naruto had done in three hours. "I do think the blockhead has a point." Sasuke continued, ignoring Naruto's "Hey!" yell. "We're stronger than most Jounins and the ANBU would never be able to beat us. I don't see why we're still Chuunins."

Neji shook his head. "Rank needs to be deserved. It's as easy as that. I guess we'll have to do a lot of missions. Taking the Jounin Exam is another possibility."

Naruto looked around him and saw other Chuunins and Genins repairing other buildings. 'Hm, everyone's so busy.' His stomach started rumbling. 'And I'm hungry…' Naruto grinned as he performed a few hand seals. "Taiyuu Bunshin no Jutsu!!"

The result was a lot of groaning. Neji's and Sasuke's groaning to be more specific, as the entire area was filled with Advanced Naruto Clones. Naruto embarrassedly scratched the back of his head. "Uh, I only wanted to create one…"

Neji frowned at Naruto. "You need to work on your Chakra Control all over again! You totally ruined my, Sasuke's and your own work. Even though you managed to do nothing in five hours…"

Naruto grinned as let most of his Clones disappear and let three remain. He let two of them transform into Sasuke and Neji. "They'll do the work for us."

"What?!" The three clones yelled.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Shut up or I'll make you disappear!"

Sasuke and Neji shook their heads but smiled nonetheless. Naruto faced them again. "I'm hungry; I suggest we take a break." He faced his three clones again. "You three better have this house done when we're back!"

The three Clones all gave Naruto the finger, before starting on the house anyway. The real Naruto, Neji and Sasuke walked away.

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Somewhere else, Hinata was giggling.

Sakura and Ino exchanged a confused look. "What's so funny, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata turned around from her own work which was also repairing a building and shrugged. She did forget to deactivate her Byakugan, though, making Ino and Sakura smile. "Ne, Hinata-chan? What did you see with your Byakugan?" Ino asked with a mischievous look on her face.

Kiba and Chouji both were a distance away, but Kiba could hear everything anyway, with his advanced hearing.

"I… I was watching Neji-nii-san, Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun…" She let out. "They… Uh, Naruto-kun found an easy way to take a break."

Sakura and Ino looked intrigued and Kiba as well, as he turned to watch the three women. "So, what easy way has he figured out then?" Kiba asked, stepping up to the women, leaving Chouji to his own devices.

Hinata couldn't help but frown at all the curiosity. "W-Well… Naruto-kun created a few Advanced Clones, to do the job for him, Neji-nii-san and Sasuke-kun."

Sakura groaned. "Yeah, well he has the stamina to pull that off… And besides… I don't even know how to make an Advanced Clone… And neither does any of you for that matter."

Hinata and Ino nodded their heads sadly. Kiba just groaned. "That's so unfair! So we have to work real hard, while Naruto just creates Advanced Clones like that! I'm going to tell this to the Hokage-sama!"

Hinata's eyes widened. "N-No! D-don't be a snitch, Kiba-kun."

Kiba frowned at her. "Hmph! Fine, but only because it's you, Hinata-chan…"

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Neji heaved a sigh of relief as he finished his bowl of Ramen. "Perhaps we should just do this all the time… It's a lot easier and it's not like we're learning anything from repairing houses. And it's not really hard for Naruto to keep making Advanced Clones."

Sasuke nodded as he was busy with second bowl of Ramen.

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah! I told you this was a great idea!"

"Hmm, perhaps we should all create Clones and do all the repairing of the Village just using our Clones… I know the Advanced Clone technique and so do you, right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked up from his bowl at Neji. After swallowing some Ramen, he answered. "Of course."

Neji thought about it again. "But then, the Hokage would find out we're cheating through all the repairing missions and… we wouldn't want her to know that… would we now?"

Naruto and Sasuke both shook their heads. After Naruto ordered his seventh bowl.

"So we just keep repeating the way we're doing it right now. It's a lot easier. We just have to make sure we don't get caught, imagine if someone spots us in a Ramen Bar while we're supposed to be doing missions." Neji explained.

"Heh, it would sure piss Baa-chan off!" Naruto yelled. "Perhaps we ourselves should transform in normal Villagers too!"

Neji nodded. "Excellent."

Sasuke smiled. "Heh, let's consider this to be our free time until the entire Village has been repaired."

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"Nara-sensei! Am I doing it right?"

"Yes."

"B-but! You didn't even open your eyes!!"

"It's too troublesome to open them. I just know you're doing it right, ok?" Shikamaru replied keeping his eyes closed. 'Jeez, I'm glad I am a Jounin Instructor now… Now I can just lie down and let Konohamaru, Moegi and Aoba Ruin do all the working.'

"Nara-sensei?"

'I just wish they'd shut up for a while…' Shikamaru thought. "What?"

"Uhmm, if I were you, I wouldn't stand up now…" Moegi warned.

Shikamaru frowned, still having his eyes closed. "Why not?" Shikamaru then groaned. "Ah, don't tell me Konohamaru did something again?"

Konohamaru chuckled wildly. "If you stand up now a lot of paint will fall on you!!" He yelled while chuckling and pointing at Shikamaru lying on the ground.

Shikamaru snarled and opened his eyes to see, thin branches all around him and they were intertwined above him. On top of the branched were jars of paint and narrowing his eyes, indeed the jars were all open. 'Damn that Konohamaru…' Shikamaru tried to scan around while not moving his body. With his eyes he could see that there were branches really all around him and he had nowhere to run. Even if he was a Jounin, he now couldn't avoid getting hit by paint…

"Konohamaru, I'm warning you, remove all of this or I'll use the Shadow Bind on you and Ruin to make you hug each other for a long time…" Shikamaru warned. 'This all is just too troublesome…'

Konohamaru looked frightened for a moment. "Na-ah! I'll remove the paint only if you promise you'll help us with all these sucky missions!"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. 'So this is why he did this… Let's see… the lengths of his arms are a lot shorter than mine and the same is with his legs.' Shikamaru tried to see how much he could move his own arms and legs and smiled. 'I can move enough to make this happen…' He carefully performed the one hand seal. "Kage Mane no Jutsu!"

Konohamaru then found himself unable to move and then Shikamaru started moving really awkwardly lying under a lot of branches under the ground. But in fact he was making Konohamaru's body move towards him. He then made Konohamaru grab all the jars of paint, walk away again and forced Konohamaru to let all the jars of paint fall on himself. Shikamaru couldn't help but chuckle as he easily rose to his feet and watched the now paint-drenched Konohamaru.

Aoba Ruin was laughing and Moegi tried to hold back a giggle, but failed miserably. Konohamaru was glaring at Shikamaru while paint was dripping from his face. "Next time I will succeed, Nara-sensei!"

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Ten-Ten was bored out of her mind as she kept throwing nails to secure wooden boards in place. Her students, Udon, Kensu and Enola Mohe, were goofing around, failing at repairing any buildings. Ten-Ten sighed. 'Udon is just too clumsy, except when it comes to explosions. Kensu is a great TaiJutsu Genin, but also clumsy. And Enola is too afraid she's going to damage her nails…'

Udon suddenly ran away from a building. Ten-Ten's eyes widened as she guessed what was going to happen. Indeed, a building blew to pieces.

"Udon! You are supposed to repair buildings, not destroy them more! You…" Ten-Ten stopped herself, before she could curse. "Why the… Why did you use an explosion of all things?!"

Udon sniffed his nose once and looked at his sensei. "Well… there was this plate that was out of place and I couldn't get it loose… So I tried it with an explosion… But I never expected the explosion to be that big…"

Ten-Ten sighed. "You… are an idiot. Go repair what you destroyed WITHOUT any explosions, got it?"

Udon bowed in respect in front of Ten-Ten. "Roger, Sensei!"

Ten-Ten shook her head, threw a few nails at the exact right places and looked at Kensu, who was punching wooden boards in place, wrecking them more, since they were ALREADY in place. 'Is he training with those things or repairing?' Ten-Ten shook her head again. 'Hopeless…'

A little distance away, she spotted the girl of the team, Enola. 'Oh, she actually has something in her hands!' Ten-Ten narrowed her eyes to see it was nail-vile… 'Oh my god…'

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Hyuga Hanabi had her arms folded as she looked at her sensei. "This is stupid."

Lee pouted as he looked at the little Hyuga heir. He turned to look at his other two students, Gekkou Toji and Morino Ujin, who were agreeing with Hanabi as they nodded their heads.

Lee sighed. "I'm not fully recovered yet and that's why I can't join in. You'll have to help others with repairing the Village."

Hyuga Hanabi huffed. "Why can't we get any interesting missions? Aren't there Shinobis out there who can teach us anything? You're too crippled to be able to teach us anything, sensei." She said, adding sarcasm in the word 'sensei.'

Lee pouted even more. "Uhm! Uhm! Well, maybe you can find your… uhmm… brother? Hyuga Neji! He'll teach you something!"

Hanabi frowned. "Neji?" Her annoyed expression suddenly turned into a happy one. "Oh right! Neji-nii-san is back in the Village! Yes, at least he CAN teach me something, unlike SOMEONE I know…"

Lee glared at Hanabi's back as she was already walking away. "Heh, like he'll make time for someone like her, ey, Toji, Ujin?"

Toji and Ujin shrugged. "So, what are we supposed to do, then, Lee-sensei?" Toji asked, annoyance also flickering on his face.

Lee smiled nervously. "Well… Just find someone in town to work with for now."

Toji and Ujin yelled "Ok, sensei!" and walked away. Lee, on his crutches, limped away… 'Kids these days… Youth Power…'

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Naruto, Neji and Sasuke were walking back to where Naruto's Clones were doing their jobs. As they approached them, Neji and Sasuke started frowning and Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Heey!! You damn idiots!! I thought I told you guys to finish it! It looks more awful than when we left!" Naruto yelled at his clones, pointing at all of them, while looking at the mess that was the building. Wooden boards were spread all over the ground.

"As could be expected, Naruto… They are YOUR clones, so it's only logical they also have YOUR treats. In your case and in this situation, that's clumsiness." Neji dryly pointed out. "I suggest you let us create the Advanced Clones next time."

Naruto pouted. "I'm not clumsy…"

Sasuke took a look at Naruto's Clones handiwork and shook his head. "How stupid. But the time we received for the mission has already expired. It seems we're on repairing this same building tomorrow again."

One of Naruto's Clones suddenly spoke up. "Oy, oy! Some Chuunin passed by telling us we sucked! So we kicked his ass!" The clone who looked like Naruto finished.

Another clone joined in, who looked like Sasuke. "Yeah! It's because of that Chuunin that we couldn't finish the job!" It was really weird seeing Sasuke say that, even Sasuke frowned.

The real Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah! I can understand that! They're not clumsy! I'm not clumsy!"

Sasuke shook his head. "Don't kid yourself, dead-last."

Naruto immediately glared at Sasuke. "Shut up, you bastard!"

Another clone interrupted, this one was supposed to be Neji. "Oy! The Chuunin that made us fail this mission of yours was named Kiba, according to your memory and by the way, he said he would make us disappear or something like that."

Neji pondered it over. "Hmm, I think Kiba knew you three were Clones. Surprising that he didn't manage to defeat the three of you."

A clone, the Naruto clone, spoke up again. "Well, of course not!" He bragged. "We are invincible!"

A third clone, 'Neji', interjected. "Heh, says the one who got smashed in the building!"

The other clone, 'Sasuke', faced the real Neji, Naruto and Sasuke. "Anyway, another Chuunin interrupted the fight, you don't know him according to your memory." He said. "But Kiba just left taking that weird dog with him, while the Chuunin addressed… him." The 'Sasuke' Clone said as he pointed towards the 'Naruto' Clone.

The real Naruto looked confused.

Neji sighed. "It means that the Chuunin had a message for you, Naruto."

"Idiot." Sasuke added.

Naruto glared at Sasuke again. The 'Sasuke' Clone continued. "Uhmm, he told you to report to the Hokage tomorrow morning."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Ah, she's back from her visit to the Sand already?!" He yelled before he made his Clones disappear.

Sasuke sighed at the day he had. Another day he wasted doing nothing. "Let's go home already. Tonight I'm going to train so I'll be home late."

Naruto and Neji nodded as they began their trek home. Naruto, Neji and Sasuke lived together in Naruto's old apartment. Neji really didn't want to live at the Hyuga estate anymore and the Uchiha estate had been demolished long ago, so Sasuke also was looking for a place to stay. Reluctantly, he lived with Naruto and Neji in the apartment. There were enough rooms for everyone.

Only the nights and mornings were a real issue. The bathroom always seemed to be occupied and Naruto always made a lot of noise at night. Everyone had their own room, of course. Another surprise really was that all of them could snore real loudly… Not only Naruto…

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The next day, Naruto was running up against the Hokage Tower, not bothering to go inside to use the stairs. The guards knew the blonde Shinobi and simply let him do what he wanted.

Tsunade didn't expect Naruto to just come through the window, so she was a bit shocked. She did expect a knock on the door instead of some crazy idiot just jumping in the room like that. At least the knock would've waken her up a little gentler. Now she was just glaring daggers at the blonde.

"Ehehehe, Good morning, Baa-chan!" He said scratching the back of his head. "Uh, sorry I woke you up…"

Tsunade snorted and sighed in relief as she noticed the pile of paper on her desk was a lot smaller now. So she DID do something the night before. Tsunade glared one last time at Naruto. "Just sit down, Naruto."

Naruto looked around, trying to spot where he could sit. And obviously, in front of Tsunade's desk was a small stool. "So uh, what did you want me here for, Baa-chan?"

Tsunade shook her head. "One of these days I'll smack you so hard the only thing you'll be able to say is Hokage-sama." With that said, Naruto just chuckled. Tsunade sighed. 'Yeah, I would chuckle like that too if I were as strong as him…'

"Anyway." She started. "Tell Sasuke and Neji you three are officially in the same team as of now."

Naruto frowned. "Well, we were already, kinda, right?"

Tsunade slightly shook her head. "Kinda, indeed. But not officially. I have a mission for…" She stopped and suddenly narrowed her eyes at Naruto. "You… You're not Naruto, are you?!" She yelled, a vein almost popping on her forehead. She rose to her feet and towered above the blonde Shinobi.

Naruto's eyes widened. "He!? What do you mean?!" He grew scared a bit and nervously laughed, looking at Tsunade innocently as her shadow was all over him. "Eh?"

Tsunade grabbed Naruto by the collar and nodded, now knowing for sure. "You're a Clone! An Advanced one! Where's the real Naruto?!" She growled dangerously…

The Naruto who was held by the collar by Tsunade pouted. "He… overslept…"

Tsunade growled in anger, swinging the Naruto Clone around. "What?!"

And then suddenly, something changed and Tsunade noticed it immediately, as she was still holding Naruto in her right hand. "You… You're the real one…now?"

The Naruto in her hands now grinned. "Hehe, yeah. I didn't expect you to find out so easy…"

Tsunade looked dumbfounded. "How..? I was holding your clone before and now… I'm holding the real you?"

Naruto smiled. "It's a new technique of mine! I can switch my real self with my Advanced Clones anywhere! It isn't really hard but it sure as hell drains Chakra! But I got a lot of that, so…." Naruto stopped talking and noted the serious and not to forget, angry look on Tsunade's face. "Eh…" He tried to explain himself. "I trained with Sasuke last night till very late, so… that's why I overslept… I switched with my Clone here as soon as I was done taking a shower… and eating Ramen… " He ended with a soft whisper. "I also switched with my Clone here because Konohamaru was knocking at the door… and now my Clone, Neji and Sasuke have to deal with him." He said chuckling, but stopped as Tsunade looked even angrier… "Hmm… Sorry?"

"So if that little grandkid of the Third didn't show up, you probably wouldn't have even switched bodies with your Clone and showed up here!?" Tsunade roared.

Naruto's expression was frozen, literally, until he tried to respond. "Uhmm, well… I think I would have…" He said, putting his right hand under his chin.

Tsunade gritted her teeth and threw Naruto against a wall. Tsunade groaned as Naruto fell THROUGH the wall. "Naruto, get your ass back in here, damn it!!"

Naruto hopped in, unharmed, a second later. Tsunade shook her head.

"You're now a team with Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke. The leader will be"

"Me, right?" Naruto nodded, knocking himself two times on his chest.

"No. Hyuga Neji will be the leader." She corrected.

Naruto's eyes widened. "What?! Why not me?!"

Tsunade smiled. "Because Sasuke would never listen to you and you would never listen to Sasuke. So Neji will be the Leader of your little team." Tsunade finished with a smile as she watched Naruto seethe in anger. 'Not that it matters… With a team like that… they are simply invincible…'

Naruto was growling in anger. 'Damn it! I wanted to be the leader! I would be so great as a leader!'

"I have a mission for you, but first…" She pointed at the newly formed hole in her wall. "You're going to fix THAT with you new team."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What?! But you created it!"

"I am the Hokage!"

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Kakashi smiled as he sat on a roof, watching the man who sat next to him. As a Shinobi, Kakashi usually had missions outside of the Village. Now, when the Village needed to be prepaired, he had stated to be off-duty and ill. But in fact, during a time where a Village needs to be prepaired, it is said that the bathhouses were more often visited by women. He had read so in one of Jiraiya's Books. Said man was sitting next to him, staring through his binocular and collecting Data.

Kakashi was happy about the latest news in Konoha. He was glad Naruto and Sasuke opted to stay in Leaf Village. Now all three of his ex-students were in Leaf Village again. It would be great hanging out with each other. If they were given time.

"Kakashi, you have to see this one!! Her body…!! There are no words for it!" He yelled as he threw his binoculars at Kakashi.

Kakashi grinned under his mask and nodded his agreement. "Indeed…"

Kakashi continued to stare through the binoculars. Jiraiya frowned. "Ey, Kakashi! That's enough already! Come on give it back!"

Kakashi ignored Jiraiya and continued to stare.

"Hey!! You want to fight!?" Jiraiya yelled angrily. "How dare you not give me back my binoculars!?"

Kakashi shook his head and looked at Jiraiya. "You're willing to fight for this? Well then." He paused. "I accept! But it will take a lot of time and by the time we're finished those women might already be gone!"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. "Ha! I have the perfect solution for this!"

Kakashi watched as Jiraiya… pulled out another set of binoculars out of his vest. Kakashi sweat dropped.

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TBC

Author's Note: Well, I hope it didn't suck too much…


	2. Preparations

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Author's Note: Thanks for so many reviews!! I can't believe it! Unreal… Err, this chapter will have less humor and more… normal things, I guess. So many reviews… I thank all of you so very much!! Run for I will hug thee!!

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Review Reply Corner:

**Pyr00tje**: Heh, thanks! Back here, people warn other people not to listen to my jokes… So I'm known to be really lame… Thanks for the review!!

**Anon**-**entity**: Ah, thanks! I'm glad you liked my other two books too! Thnks for reviewing!!

**TyRooNe**: Thanks! I;m glad you thought it was funny! Didn't anyone would actually appreciate my humor. Thnx for reviewing!!

**Perverted**-**senin**: Well, everyone has to deserve Rank, I feel. Even though they are super uber strong… Oh well, thanks for liking it!!

**Dragon89**: I'm glad you laughed. About pairing I'm still a little unsure. There are just so many males in Leaf Village and so little females… I want more females! Err.. Thanks for the review!

**Refused**: Yep, yep! Thanks! Itachi, Dareda and Mokito will have a part in this story, yes. Even Ayane, the Ramen Girl, has a pretty big part. Thnx for reviewing!

**Lady** **Light**: Thank you! Thanks for liking it and thanks for the review!

**Dalavita**: Yeah? Whoa, I'm glad you liked the jokes! Uhmm, KibaHina? No, I'm not a fan of that pairing either… But the more realistic you want it to be… Oh well, thnx for the review!

**Supreme** **Gamma**: Heh, whoa, thanks! Yeah, the Jiraiya-Kakashi scene was funny to write. Thanks for liking it! Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it!!

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**Nobuyasha**: Heh, I'm glad you like the start of the book! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

**:D**: Heh, well slight change. As an opening chapter I wanted a little humor. This chapter has almost no humor… Hope you enjoy! Thnx for reviewing!

**FlareOfDragon**: Heh, no kidding! I never expected to get so many reviews!! I'm completely wide-eyed… Yeah, I hope this book will be enjoyable. Ja, thanks for reviewing!! Here's the next chappy!

**Misu** **no** **Yami**: Heh, I'm glad you thought it was funny! Thanks!!

**Per**: Thanks! I'm glad you considered it funny! And whoa, you gave me a 10/10 rating?! Whoa… Thanks for reviewing!!

**Moonlight's** **Shadow**: Heh, thanks! A lot of people liked the Kakashi&Jiraiya ending…  Oh well, perverts all of you :P:P, ahum, thanks for reviewing!!

**Gopu**: Thanks I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the review!

**The** **Dark** **Necromancer**: Wow, thanks! I hope you'll like this chapter as well! Thnx for reviewing!!

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**Cookie6**: Thank you! Here's the next chapter, please enjoy!

**Dark** **Phoenix**: No, no, I won't pair Kiba and Hinata… I think… :P…  yeah, 18 reviews by now… Damn, that's a lot! Thanks for reviewing!

**Anonymous**: hehe, caps lock there… Well, action coming in later chapters, don't worry! Here's the second chappy, hope you enjoy!

**DarkLinx10**: Gee, thanks! Glad you liked it! Thanks for the review!!

**EmptySanity**: Uhmm, I love you too? Ah, thanks for liking the start! I hope you like this chapter too!

**ThanatosUpbringing**: I'm glad you like it, thanks! Here's the next chappy, thnx for reviewing!

**Sally**: Heh, Kakashi is a combination of a closet and an open pervert! Thnx for reviewing!

**Curlsofserentiy**: heh, glad you liked Naruto's new move! And Jiraiya is a pretty cool guy, right? Neway, thanks for reviewing!

**Sirus183**: thank you, I'm glad you liked it!! Here's the next update!!

**SilverKnight7**: Heh, well, updated! I'm glad you like the story! Thnx for reviewing!

**TenTen** Hyuga: Probably, probably ;P… I'm glad you didn't think it sucked. Well, here's the next update, hope you enjoy!!

**Lostlily**: Yep, Gaara will make his first appearance in this book. I hope you enjoy this book and you hurry up and update too :P! Heh, thanks for the review!!

**Noname**: Ah, thanks, I'm glad you like it! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!!

**Shade89**: Yeah well, the Stone's just a lot weaker than the Leaf, I feel. And yeah, of course. Gaara'll be in this one!

**Aiel**: Yep, yep. I tried to create a laid-back atmosphere actually. Thanks for liking it! Oh, you didn't laugh too much… just a little? That's good enough for me! And what's so wrong with Kiba?

**Lemmings12**: Heh, well you'll find out about Gaara soon enough. I'm glad you liked the humor in the chapter. Hehe, Jiraiya's Ultimate Binoculars no Jutsu! Thanks for reviewing, man!

**EfrainMan**: heh, indeed. No matter how far you've come, there will always be challenges, eh? Heh, thanks for the review!!

**Youshi**: Yep, yep, there will be fights. Well, here's alittle more! I hope you enjoy! Thnx for reviewing!

**Anonymous**: Whoa, thanks! I'm glad you liked my first two books, I hope you'll like this one as well. Thnx for reviewing!!

**Akira1511**: Yeah, Sasuke is a little bit of a loner, isn't he? Well, some guys are just destined to be alone. And what's wrong with Kiba? :P. Thnx for reviewing!!

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Tsunade had returned from the meeting with the Council of the Sand and had learned they have appointed a new Kazekage. Not really surprisingly, this was to be Baki, having more experience than most other high-ranked Shinobis in the Sand put him up front. As smooth as it went here in Leaf Village, it didn't went as smooth there in the Sand Village, considering the reacceptance of a certain Sand Shinobi called Gaara.

After having pointed out that she, the Fifth Hokage of the Leaf, had welcomed the missing-nins Hyuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto back into the Village and having them keep the rank Chuunin, the Council had explained how Gaara had been accepted back. They had brought out arguments as 'He still has a chance of having been influenced by that demon' or 'He holds too much power, he can destroy this village in a matter of moments', but couldn't ignore the fact that Gaara no longer had a sealed demon within him and also had to note the significant change Gaara went through. Other than the fact that Gaara was sure enough the strongest Shinobi in Sand now, they, the council, saw that he felt he belonged there.

Tsunade had thought of the Council manipulating Gaara, but thought better of it. Gaara wasn't easy to address and he did not respect anyone easy, let alone the Council of the Sand. So any worries of the Council corrupting Gaara were washed away. And now with the new Kazekage, Baki, who was familiar with Gaara, it was safe to say Sand would be a worthy ally.

Now, back home, she had missions to give to Chuunins who were probably the strongest in the Village. Well, in the beginning it would probably be solo-missions. Perhaps she could send them along with a solo-Jounin mission occasionally. Or perhaps she could make them do her paperwork…

**There Where When is Now**

Chapter 2: Preparations

Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke were completely awake, seated in front of the Hokage's office, waiting for Tsunade to open the door and let them in. Uzumaki Naruto was snoring, sitting next Sasuke. The day before they had been training again. After finally having finished their share of repairing missions, they were ready for the real missions.

Neji was tempted to use his Byakugan to see what was taking the Fifth so long. They were already waiting for about ten full minutes. Ten more minutes he could have remained sleeping in his bed. He sighed as he folded his arms and let his head rest downwards. Their training was going great so far. He had a new Hyuga attack figured out and had tried it on Naruto. The 64-Opening Points Attack, but then from a distance using Chakra strings… or whips, in this case. Even though it wasn't possible to penetrate Naruto's defense, he still knew it would work on anyone else.

Uchiha Sasuke was also satisfied with the way he was improving. Doing boring missions at day and training in his free time with Neji and Naruto. Though it was slow and hard to do, he was going stronger without the Curse Seal. Soon it would just be a liability. His Sharingan only knew the Mangekyo, Tsukiyomi so far, but he was sure there were more possibilities to expand the variety of skills that could be developed from his fully developed Sharingan.

Naruto was a true pain in the ass to fight. Having mastered, no more than mastered his use of Clones, Shadow Clones and Advanced Clones, he was difficult to fight. With the Chakra he possessed he could also pull of mind boggling Jutsus. Sasuke found out he could copy some of Naruto's Jutsus. He had learned the Ryouganku no Jutsu, the Lava Breath, but learned that it was not smart for him to use, since unlike Naruto, he had no automatic way of healing himself, since the lava burned the corners of his mouth as he breaths it out. And most of Naruto's Jutsus took so much Chakra that it was more of a pain for Sasuke than his opponents. So Sasuke just tried to develop skills of his own, since trying to copy Neji's skills was useless too, since he only used Hyuga skills most of the time.

The door opened to reveal Tsunade with a grin stuck on her face. "Come in."

After having slapped Naruto awake, both Neji and Sasuke, they walked in the Hokage Office and took a seat. Judging from the look on the Hokage's face, this mission would not be very hard, perhaps even annoying, Neji figured.

"Ok, for the time being, for you three I only have solo-missions or missions for two." She began. All three of them shrugged and motioned for her to continue. "Sasuke, I think you have the most thrilling one…"

Sasuke frowned at the sarcasm that could barely be sensed in the sentence. Neji noticed too and shook his head. Naruto just waited for Tsunade to continue; slightly disappointed that Sasuke would have a more exciting mission than him.

"A teacher at the Ninja School thinks one of the other teachers, or perhaps even one of the students is a spy. All backgrounds we have already checked out, but that could easily be messed with. Your mission is to act as an assistant-teacher and try to find out if there really is a spy. If there really is one, bring the spy to me. Got it?"

Sasuke had a sour look on his face, sighed and nodded.

"Neji, Naruto, your job will be helping me with paper work."

Both Naruto and Neji groaned at that and Sasuke couldn't help but gloat… a little bit.

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"Ah, Uchiha Sasuke, I presume?"

Sasuke, bored, looked up to see a Chuunin Teacher in front of him. 'Come to think of it, Naruto, Neji and I all don't wear Chuunin outfits.' Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, I am. So, I am to be your assistant in this… mission?"

The Teacher nodded. "Yeah. Call me Koto Aradaku. Or Koto will just do. You don't have to pay attention to me during classes, but to the students. After break, you'll join another teacher in his class. The Hokage told me she could send an Uchiha or a Hyuga, so I requested for someone with the Sharingan."

"Thanks." Sasuke said. 'Even though this is boring, it's not as terrible as doing paperwork for the Hokage.'

The Teacher nodded. "So, basically you just use your Sharingan and observe the Class."

Sasuke nodded. "I understand."

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Naruto and Neji were both walking around the Village. They needed to go meet up with other Chuunin Teams and collect their reports on missions already finished. Neji was pretty dumbfounded, since he thought reports like that would be brought to the Hokage herself by the Chuunin Leader. He didn't think of it too much. The Hokage sometimes was too busy to receive so many visitors in one day. She had also told them when to come back with the reports. They had five hours to collect twelve reports.

"So, where do we find all these Chuunin Teams?"

Neji sighed. "Oh I don't know. Perhaps I own a Byakugan or maybe you have a good nose…" He dryly pointed out.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, well I don't know how these guys smell, ok? And you don't know how they look either!"

Neji pulled out a list from his pocket and looked at it. "Well, at least there's one team we DO know."

Naruto looked at Neji with interest. "So, which one?"

Neji smiled. "The one that has Hyuga Hinata as Team Leader. You can smell that team, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Of course! I know Hinata's smell!"

Neji nodded. "That's good for you, but I have my Byakugan already activated and we need to go to the left now."

Naruto frowned. "Heh, I already knew that!"

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Tsunade sat in her office. She could tell she'd be having a busy month. She was glad repairs were done and most Jounins and Chuunins could go on real missions. A lot had to be arranged between the Leaf and its Country, Fire, but also with other Countries. Other than that, she wanted to be the Hokage who managed to hunt down all missing-nins… It was hard to find Shinobis strong enough to capture the two strongest missing-nins of Leaf, Uchiha Itachi and Hyuga Dareda.

At first, she wanted to just let the elite ANBU hunt for them, but she remembered seeing Itachi fight in the Akatsuki War and realised they would not be enough. So, in time, she would let Neji, Naruto and Sasuke probably hunt for them… even though all of them had a past with him and Dareda. Other than that issue, there was also the Chuunin Exam… Perhaps she could let Chuunins deal with Exams this time. The younger the mind of the Examiner, the more creative the Tests would probably be, she figured, though with someone like Naruto, the Tests would probably be really stupid.

A knock on her door reminded her she had to fix someone up to complete health. As she walked to the door and opened it, the bright Rock Lee stood there with a grin.

"Come on in, Lee."

Behind Lee, Shizune walked up and also entered the Office.

"Oh, by the way, Lee. You'll be having a mission tomorrow with your team. The Stone Village had requested help from our Village to restore everything back up, so I told them I would send a Jounin with three Genins."

Lee nodded. "I understand, Hokage-sama."

"Well, let the healing begin…" Tsunade said as Shizune also gathered Chakra.

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Sakura and Ino looked at the two men before them with a little bit of awe. A month had passed since the Akatsuki War and yet still they hadn't talked to Naruto or Sasuke. Neji, too, deserved a lot of respect for his partake in the War.

"We're on full observation the entire day, Neji-nii-san." Hinata said, carefully gazing at Naruto to see his reaction. "Hokage-sama told us the occupants could be thieves, operating from this house. I've spread the entire team here. Kiba and Chouji are on the ground, Sakura and Ino are on that roof." She said pointing to a house a little distance in front of them. "And I'm stationed here. Because we have to observe the entire day, we can't report to the Hokage. We can't even allow ONE of us to report."

Neji nodded. "I see. So, the other Chuunin Teams I have to gather reports from have a similar mission to this one, I presume?"

Hinata nodded. "Yeah. Probably observation or guard missions."

"Hmm." Naruto mused out loud. "So do all Chuunins get boring missions like this?"

Hinata looked at Naruto with a faint blush. "Ah… Yes. Mostly."

Naruto stared right back at Hinata. "Then I've decided! I'm going to be Jounin as fast as possible!"

Neji shook his head. "Well, thanks for the report. We'll be off again."

Hinata nodded. "No problem."

"Bye, Hinata!" Naruto yelled as Neji and he jumped from roof to roof, away from them.

Hinata watched them disappear in the distance and sighed. 'Naruto-kun… The Jounin Exam is due in four months still… The Chuunin Exam comes first…'

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In the Sand Village, Gaara was seated on his favourite roof, where he always watched over his Village. It's been a long time since he got to watch Sand Village from this spot. Baki, the new Kazekage, didn't have any missions for him to do, other than very low ones. So the Kazekage had given him time to train and get to know his new team a little better. A Chuunin Team of four and he was to be the leader, since he would listen to no one and everyone listened to him.

The meeting of his new team was today. In fact, he was already running late. He was to be a Chuunin Leader and his Chuunin subordinates would probably be all weak, he figured. There's no use hurrying meeting a bunch of losers. Truthfully, he didn't really want this. But Baki told him if he wanted to have good missions, this was the only way.

Letting Sand take him down to the ground, he opted to walk towards where the meeting was supposed to take place.

After a small ten minutes, he arrived to see three Chuunin look slightly agitated at him for being late. Gaara didn't really care what they thought and observed them. Two girls and a boy. Gaara frowned. What was he supposed to do with two girls?

"State your name and ability." He began, not bothering to introduce himself, because the three probably knew him already anyway.

The boy or young man, spoke up first. "I'm Nishi Odei of the Odei clan. I can control the wind around me in a radius of almost thirty feet, I control it so much that I can even adjust its temperature."

Gaara narrowed his eyes. 'Odei? Where have I heard that name before?'

A black-haired girl stepped forward. "The name's Keiko Akeru, I have no real clan and my abilities originate from Stone Village. I can continuously pull my body apart, making stones of them and regenerate automatically, though regeneration takes Chakra."

The last, a light-brown haired girl ended. "I'm Maya Robuki from the Robuki Clan. I have the Bloodline Limit called Baikin. My eyes can see bacteria, germs all around and inside the enemy. By touch, I can regulate their flow in a body. But with my own blood I can form specific bacteria which are perfect for my opponents. Everybody reacts to bacteria differently. It's also a defense, I've never been ill and poison doesn't work on me."

Gaara looked intrigued. 'Baikin?' He narrowed his eyes. "The downside?"

Maya sighed. "With heightened emotions I grow tired fast. Also, I can not stop my own Bloodline Limit's activity, so it's always activated and it drains Chakra all the time, though very slowly, but when I use the skills from my Bloodline Limit it drains Chakra faster."

Gaara nodded. 'So that's also why her eyes are light red all the time… and she her pupils…they're just… white… Interesting…'

Gaara sighed. "Good. I am Gaara. We have to report to the Kazekage now."

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Naruto, Neji and Sasuke were in the Ramen Bar again. They had just received money for the missions they had done.

"It was stupid." Sasuke said. "It was so obvious. It was in the fourth class I was in. There was this student who was writing something down, taking notes. The teacher was citing Leaf Village History quotes. I activated my Sharingan and copied his movements. As I took a look at what I wrote down, I saw the kid had written down basic Leaf information that EVERYONE should know. That was why no one was scribbling notes down. A lot of secrets of Leaf Village are revealed at the Ninja School through the teacher."

Naruto and Neji both scowled at Sasuke for having a better mission than them.

"After school, I faced the 'student' and simply unmasked him, knocked him out and brought him to the Hokage, it turned out he, the spy, was an old woman, by the way. I did my mission in less than a day."

"Hmph! Today we came to find out Chuunins only have boring missions." Naruto whined.

"Naruto-kun." Naruto looked up at the smiling face of Ayane, the Ramen girl. "Thank you, Ayane-chan!"

Ayane nodded and looked at Neji and Sasuke, who were also about to finish their bowls. She walked away to grab two more bowls for them.

"So how late tomorrow are we expected by Tsunade?" Sasuke asked.

"We're not expected there at all, actually. We have a mission tomorrow and it's… guard duty at the Gates for the entire day…"

Naruto and Sasuke sighed at that.

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"So you think this will improve the situation?" Ino asked as she was walking alongside Sakura towards the Hokage Tower.

Sakura nodded. "Yes. A party, a party for everyone!"

Ino frowned. "A party? That sounds… so lame."

Sakura shook her head. "Hey! On a party you can talk a lot easier with everyone! That includes Sasuke-kun and Naruto!"

Ino snorted. "Hmph! So who are you planning on inviting and where are you going to… party?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Ino, as she pronounced the word 'party' with sarcasm. "Well, just outside! And we'll invite everyone! Maybe we'll do it outside of the Ramen Bar!"

Ino shook her head. "I still think a party is not the way to do it."

"What then?" Sakura asked. "Any better suggestions?"

Ino nodded her head. "Of course! I say we just get together at night one time, no party, just a get together!"

"A get together?"

Sakura and Ino looked sideways to see Chouji walking with a bag of chips.

Ino nodded again. "Yes, just everyone who was rookie Genin in the same year as us."

"And Lee, Neji and Ten-Ten, too." Sakura added. "Twelve people."

Ino smiled. "Yeah, enough place at home!"

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Gaara frowned as he stared at the three Chuunin before him. "What's wrong? I said attack me!"

The male Chuunin, Nishi Odei, stepped forward. "Uhmm, but you're also a Chuunin. If we all attack you… Even a Jounin has a small chance of victory against three Chuunins…"

Gaara frowned. "Just attack."

Nishi Odei performed a few hand seals. "Fuujin no Mai!"

Gaara smiled as his Shield of Sand easily blocked all the slicing wind blasts coming from Nishi's hands.

Nishi narrowed his eyes and got startled as Keiko ran passed him and jumped.

Gaara smiled as Keiko landed on Gaara's Shield, even now that her entire body was stone. His attention upwards, Maya watched Gaara's system with her eyes and she immediately sent a swarm of, invisible to the normal eye, bacteria towards Gaara, who all also got stopped Gaara's Shield of Sand.

"It is useless… All of you have too little power that even get passed my first defense, it seems." Gaara stated. "Hit me with your strongest attack."

'Arrogant bastard…' Keiko immediately performed a few seals. "Ishi Gassen!!"

Gaara frowned. 'This is her ultimate attack? Even this is not strong enough to get passed my first defense.' He though as Keiko was throwing Rock after Rock out of her stomach at him and he watched as her stomach regenerated in a very quick rate. He also watched Stones approach his face in high speed, but didn't really fear them as they were stopped by the Shield of Sand.

Keiko panted and was forced to stop her attack. She was mad that Gaara wasn't even hit once. She glanced sideways to see Nishi perform hand seals. "Taiyuu Gufuu no Jutsu!"

Gaara smiled as he recognised the attack. 'Hmm, that will probably go as far as my second defense…'

The slicing tornado Nishi created was circulating around Gaara, penetrating the Shield of Sand, but repeatedly getting stopped by the Barrier of Sand. After a while of watching, Nishi yelled "Taiyuu Gufuu no Jutsu!!" again.

Gaara frowned as two tornadoes were spinning around him. "Useless…" He gathered a bit of Chakra and used a large amount of sand to land on top of the tornadoes, stopping them.

Nishi snorted and let Maya continue. She knew she would not be able to penetrate that Shield physically. "Baikin: Bouffuu, Hitoku!"

Gaara didn't know what the attack was and couldn't see anything happen either. Maya, on the other hand, saw everything. She had created many flesh-eating bacteria around Gaara. She had meant for them to simply eat away at the Shield of Sand.

Gaara frowned as he saw his Shield of Sand being activated and disappear after a short while, only to see his Barrier of Sand appear. 'Interesting… I bet she's using bacteria to penetrate my defenses.'

Gaara activated the Sphere of Sand and let it expand around him. Nishi, Keiko and Maya watched in awe and the Sphere continued to grow in size. All of Maya's bacteria had already been destroyed.

Then, Gaara made the Sphere disappear again and he just stood there, staring at them with his arms folded. "I conclude, you are all weak."

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"I really hope someone decides to attack our Village now…" Naruto yelled upwards as he stood on the ground.

Above the Gates, on the left and right side, there were two towers. Neji was in the right tower and Sasuke in the left. Just for fun, Neji threw a Kunai with an explosion tag down towards Naruto.

Naruto watched it land before him and snickered, ready for the explosion. He pouted after one minute as it didn't explode. "How boring, Neji!"

"It wasn't me."

And then, Naruto smelled someone approach the Village. "Neji! Activate you Byakugan! I smell someone in the distance!"

Neji activated his Byakugan and nodded his head. "Yeah, someone's approaching! But expect no action; they're just Villagers coming back from a trip."

Naruto sighed.

In the left tower, Sasuke had his arms folded as he was staring up to the sky. 'I wonder… to be able to achieve my goal, I have to be a Hunter-nin… When I reach Jounin Level, I can just choose to be of the ANBU. And then I will hunt for Itachi…'

"Good day!" A happy villager greeted as he and two others stood before Naruto.

"Hey." Naruto greeted back. He scanned their faces and tried to smell what they had on them. 'No Kunais, no Shuriken, no metal… They reek of sweat, though.' Naruto smiled. "You can pass."

The three Villagers nodded their heads. Neji and Sasuke opened the Gates to let them through. After the gates were closed again, Naruto began to yell again. "Hey how about we switch! I want to be in the tower!"

"No way." Both Neji and Sasuke yelled back.

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Kiba was hopping back home from roof to roof and stopped as he saw Naruto walk home alone. Judging from the way Naruto looked his way, Naruto had already sensed him. Kiba jumped down with Kiba by his side. "Oy, idiot!"

Naruto shook his head. "Hey, dog breath! Oh, mind telling me why you attacked my clones yesterday, by the way?"

Kiba frowned. "You don't know?! You cheated your way through that mission! I can not allow you to do that!"

Naruto frowned right back. "You can't allow me? I can do whatever I want, you got that?"

Kiba growled and Akamaru growled with him. 'Hm! Naruto is way too strong for me…'

Hinata approached the two of them and saw them growling at each other. "Kiba-kun, Naruto-kun…"

Both of them looked to see Hinata. "Oh, hi, Hinata!" Naruto yelled. "So how did your mission go today?"

Kiba sighed, with the argument forgotten, he decided to listen to Hinata.

"U-uhmm, well. We had no problems. We had another observation mission." Hinata said, not sure of what to say.

Kiba snorted. "Might as well tell him about Ino's idea!"

Hinata nodded and faced Naruto again. "Uh.. Hai! Ino-chan… She… She wanted for all of us… to get together!"

Naruto frowned. "Get together? I don't understand…"

Kiba sighed. "You're an idiot."

Naruto growled. "Shut up, dog breath!"

"Ano… She wanted the old Teams… Our old teams to meet up again." Hinata finished.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "You mean… old teams… Me, Sakura-chan and Sasuke?"

Hinata nodded.

"Heh, so the idiot can understand something, eh?" Kiba blurted out. "There's hope for you, after all!"

"D-don't say that, Kiba-kun!" Hinata said.

Naruto frowned. 'Hinata…' He looked at Hinata. "It's a great idea, Hinata-chan! I'll tell Neji and Sasuke!"

Hinata and Kiba watched him walk away. "But, it was Ino's idea…" Hinata said.

"Don't bother explaining that to him again, he's an idiot!" Kiba said, while Akamaru barked to agree.

"He's not an idiot." Hinata rectified.

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Many days and missions further, Naruto, Neji and Sasuke were all seated once again in the Hokage Office.

"As you know, The Chuunin Exam is up in a few days. You've probably already encountered a few other Shinobis in the Village. I brought you three here because I wanted you to take care of the Third Test of the Chuunin Exam. This time it will not be Genin versus Genin. But Genin versus you, Chuunin. We'll judge the way they fight and how they try to win against you three. It's a team based attack. All three of one Genin team try to defeat just one of you. You'll have to watch the First and Second Test to find out anything about the Genins. Also, why you're at it, observe and if you see anything suspicious, act upon it."

Naruto, Neji and even Sasuke grinned, after they nodded their understanding and glad they finally got something a little more interesting to do.

"Who will be taking care of the First and Second test?" Neji asked.

"The First Test will be taken care of Haruno Sakura, Hyuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino, it was up to them to make something up. The Second Test will be handled by the ANBU Captain Aburame Shino as the Examiner, Inuzuka Kiba, Akimichi Chouji and a whole bunch of other Chuunins as observers. Shino said he would create a test." Tsunade smiled. "Try to enjoy yourselves. Chuunin Exams are fun to watch."

Naruto, Neji and Sasuke walked out of the Hokage Tower. "Tonight we have to be at Ino's, huh?" Naruto asked. "I don't know how I should behave around all of them… I haven't spoken to any of them, except that moron Kiba and Hinata-chan."

Neji nodded. "Hm, same here. Hinata and Ten-Ten are the only ones I talked with. The Jounins Shikamaru, Ten-Ten and Lee all are also back from their missions as Jounin Instructors."

Sasuke sighed. "I don't exactly look forward to tonight. All I can imagine it becoming is a very annoying night."

Naruto grinned. "Hey, they won't be so bad… I hope. It'd be nice to hear Shikamaru complaining, to hear Lee shout about bright things, to hear Chouji eat, to… not hear Shino and… heck, you might even like to hear Ino and Sakura-chan yell 'Sasuke-kun' again and again."  He ended with a chuckle and stopped as Sasuke glared at him.

"Well, I don't have much conversation material… Only thing I can do is ask Hinata what she had in mind for the first Test and ask Shino what the Second is…" Neji paused. "But about Shino, Naruto… I think he still holds a grudge against us for killing his subordinates… remember?"

Naruto sighed and sadly looked towards the ground. "Yeah, probably. Even though, we couldn't really help it, We DID kill them… perhaps they were even friends…"

Neji shook his head. "Still, such is the life a Shinobi. From someone like Shino, I'd expect more…"

Naruto pondered it over. "Still, I do understand it if he hates us for killing them…"

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'I really don't even want to be here…' Sasuke thought as he saw Naruto knock on the door. 'This is going to be so bad… I'm going to hate this…' Seeing Ino open the door with a big smile but unsure expression didn't make matters any better.

Neji observed too. 'Hmm, she's also afraid of how to behave around us, it seems.' Neji thought.

Entering the house, Naruto noticed everyone was already there, even Shino, who was… standing. Shikamaru was slouched over a couch and Chouji was eating. Sakura and Hinata were talking and Kiba, with Akamaru, sat on a small stool next to the standing Shino. Lee and Ten-Ten were seated next to each other on a couch. Ino walked towards Sakura and Hinata and joined the chattering. Neji, Naruto and Sasuke all stood before them, unsure of what to do.

'See! Now what do we do?' Sasuke thought in frustration. 'Who ever came up with this horrible idea, anyway?!'

Naruto curiously looked around and focused on what Chouji was eating. 'Unfortunately, that's no Ramen…' He then walked away from Sasuke and Neji and softly tapped Ino's shoulder. "Uh… Ino-san… Do you perhaps have… any Ramen?"

Ino frowned at Naruto and the room kinda fell silent. Neji and Sasuke were already shaking their heads. Ino giggled once. "Of course… Naruto-kun." And then, she walked away.

Naruto frowned. 'She called me… Naruto-kun? Ino? What's going on here… Hinata also does that…' He came back to the room, ignoring his thoughts, and saw Hinata and Sakura both stare at him as he stood in front of them. "Uhh… Hi…"

"H-hello, Naruto-kun." Hinata shyly greeted with a faint blush.

Naruto watched Hinata fumble around. "Hiya, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan!"

"Hello, Naruto-kun." Sakura greeted back.

'Aaaaahh! She too?!' Naruto thought.

'How idiotic… so now we just greet each other and smile?' Sasuke thought. He then faced Neji. "It's best if we don't stay too long…" He whispered in Neji's ear.

Neji nodded and whispered back. "Indeed. This situation is… absurd… For now, let's just join Naruto and find a place to at least sit."

Sasuke nodded. "… I do hope Ino has Ramen, though…"

Neji frowned at Sasuke. 'He's changed considerably… Odd to see he once followed Orochimaru and now he even goes as far to come at a… party… like this.'

"What?" Sasuke asked, not liking the frown Neji was giving him.

"Nothing." Neji answered. He had to admit, he was a little hungry as well and was also glad to see Ino return from the kitchen and watched as she handed a small bowl of Ramen to Naruto. 'Oh great, we all have to ask for Ramen to get just one bowl, it seems…'

Sasuke and Neji found an empty couch and watched as Naruto joined them on the couch. From then on… Ino started serving Sake…

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TBC

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. I'm still trying to make up good Tests for the Chuunin Exam they are going to run. Also a few missions for Gaara and the two Sand hunter-nins Temari and Kankurou. Next mission we'll see Shikamaru, Lee and Ten-Ten explain to their students what the Chuunin Exam is all about. Also, what will happen when everyone gets drunk at Ino's party?!


	3. A Start

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer:

Author's Note: I have a HomePage!! That's why I took so long to update! Sorry, sorry! Ah, my homepage is TokehGecko dot com, with the three W's in front of it, of course. The Forums are still kinda empty, so I would like it if you guys could make it more lively! Please? Chapter 3 of this story was actually already up on my site!

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Review Reply Corner:

**Lady** **Light**: Heh, thanks!! I hope you like this chappy! Thnx for reviewing!

**TyRooNe**: Heh, we have a strange sense of humour… Neji rocks, Gaara rocks, Naruto rocks, and in a way, though it's a way that's very hard to find, Sasuke rocks too… I guess. Thanks for the review!

**Night-Owl1123**: Ok, here's the update! I hope you enjoy! Thanks for dropping a review!

**EmeraldBlossom**: Shinobis won't be easily affected by sake… right? Err, anyway, here's an update! Thnx for reviewing!

**Chinkpig**: Yeah, right now the Stone Village knows about the power that Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara possess, so starting a war wouldn't be good for them right now. Neway, thanks for still liking this book!

**Misu** **no** **Yami**: Well, there will be pairings, but that's not what it's all about in this book. So don't worry! Thanks for the review!

**Death** **Knight**: Heh, I though the previous chapter was still pretty long… Oh well, this one is longer, as requested! Thanks for liking my stories! I hope you like this chapter!

**Spetznaz**: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! Thnx for reviewing!

**Supreme** **Gamma**: Hehh, many thanks, man! I thought people wouldn't like the Sake idea. I really hope you like this chapter too! Thanks for reviewing!!

**Sally**: Yeah all of them end up in one one-person bed! Uhm… yeah.. Thanks! I'm glad you thought it was funny! Thnx for reviewing!

**Sirus183**: Oh, I won't reveal too much of the plot, but Orochimaru and Itachi have a bigger part later on. Thnx for reviewing!

**Lostlily**: Yep, yep! Inuyasha is real fun to watch! Indeed, Fuujin no Mai is originally Kagura's. Kiba's Sankontessou is originally Inuyasha's. But Kazaana… good idea! Oh well, I hope you'll like this chapter! And I'm looking forward to reading your next chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

**Dark** **Phoenix**: Yeah, I can't wait to write about the Chuunin Exam! I'm not that good of a writer, though… There are many good ones out there!! Neway, thanks for reviewing!

**RuByMoOn17**: Yep, third book started! I hope you'll enjoy it! Thanks for reviewing!

**EikKoekoek**: Heh, I've read your story and I have to say it rocks! I like how you describe thoughts! I hope it'll be NaruTema, hehe. Uhmm, the Chuunin exam here is an own variation, yeah. And Shino… I don't really know how that guy thinks… Neway, thanks for reviewing!

**Gopu**: Heh, thanks! Thnx for the review!

**Moonlight's** **Shadow**: Yep, yep! Ramen's the food to eat! Thanks for reviewing!!

**Shade89**: Heh, indeed… It's difficult not writing a chapter without battles, so there's one in here… I'll take a look at your story right now! But I don't review often. Thanks for reviewing!

**Perverted-senin**: Heh, thanks! Hinata-chan owns us all! Thnks for the review!

**EfrainMan**: Hehe, nope, action is always needed! And indeed, it's pretty difficult to try and decide what they should say to each other.. Oh well, many thanks for the review!

**FlareOfDragon**: Heh, no worries. Thanks for you later review too! But when it arrived I already had this chapter finished… so sorry… but some things are kinda similar… And yeah… I'm just not a funny guy…

**Aznboiblk**: Nono, I still have ideas, don't worry! So, it's boring?? –cries, weeps and sobs- Oh well, thx for the review anyway.

**:D**: Yep, Naruto deserves respect now more than ever! The –kun doesn't really mean the girl is interested in the guy instantaneously… Oh well, many thanks for the review!!

**TenTen** **Hyuga**: You Hentai!! Hehe, anyway, here's an update, I hope you'll enjoy it! Thnx for reviewing!

**Curlsofserenity**: Yeeaahh, who doesn't love Gaara? He's tha man! Well, the Sake issue won't be too long…

**ShukakuGarra**: Haha, yeah, this one's slightly longer… Still the previous chapter was close to 5000 words, though… Neway, thanks for reviewing!

**Noname**: adding the –kun could also be simply to be polite, right? I mean, Lee always calls Naruto, Naruto-kun, too. Oh well, thanks for reviewing!!

**123**: Well, this time I was a little slow, please forgive me!! Well, I hope you like the update!! Thnx for reviewing!

**Zededjk**: NaruHina, ey? I've seen a lot of m, actually! Well, I still don't know which pairings I'm going to do, so I'm going for the most realistic ones. Thanks for reviewing!

**Lemmings12**: Uhmmm, well the Sake part isn't really that big… and there will be close to no romance there… But the Chuunin Exam will be fun to write about! Thanks for reviewing!!

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Weird how simple drinks could change one's behaviour in mere moments. This so-called 'get-to-together' was destined to become extremely boring if Ino hadn't revealed the presence of Sake. Even then, the 'get-to-together' went anything but smooth. Some people react differently on booze than other people.

Aburame Shino, for example, was no longer standing, but was now seated next to Kiba on a chair. Instead of a normal expression, a smile graced his features. He even had taken off his simple grey suit. He wasn't on a mission, so why would he wear an ANBU Uniform?

Kiba, with Akamaru sitting on the ground, was laughing wildly while he was having a mostly one-way conversation with Shino, while Shino occasionally grunted in response. Akamaru was slightly whimpering at Kiba's red face.

Hinata opted not to drink too many and had chosen to observe everyone else. But even having had a few drinks had changed her normal behaviour slightly. She was now simply staring at Naruto a little longer than usual and the longing could easily be seen.

Shikamaru had a wide smile on his face as he had a lot of drinks. He was still slouched over a couch, or as much as he could, since Chouji was occupying more than half of the couch. But Shikamaru was content where he was now. No problems, no annoying students and sake within reach…

Chouji wasn't much of a drinker, he just preferred food more. But he was not one to look down upon others as they got drunk, for he was too busy eating anyway. He never was much of a conversationalist, except with Shikamaru, who was enjoying his sake a little too much.

Ino was crazily giggling, chattering with both Sakura and Hinata, while occasionally shooting a glance between Sasuke and Shikamaru. It didn't seem to bother her too much to see some of her visitors drink so much.

Neji was frowning upon the scene. He had a few drinks, but unlike others, he had a high tolerance. He also kept a close eye on Lee, who he knew was not allowed to have sake. He was annoyed to see Lee tempted to have a drink. He would not enjoy having to deal with the Drunken Fist Fighter Lee, so he would simply interfere if Lee did choose to go for a drink.

Ten-Ten was also keeping a close eye on Lee, but also on Neji, who, she noticed, was also looking at their direction, hers and Lee's. She learned from Gai that if Lee had one little sip of Sake, he would lose complete control.

Lee was staring at the bottle of Sake intently, wanting very much to grab it and drink it all up. But he wasn't allowed and he knew it. But still, he continued on staring at the damned bottle. It's been so long since he had a drink… He could not really remember how long, though…

Sakura was smiling and laughing at Ino's comments on others. Not because Ino was super funny, but because she, too, had a few drinks. Her cautious glances fell between Sasuke and Naruto.

Naruto was chuckling like a maniac as he grabbed the… he didn't know how many he had, a lot anyway. But he grabbed the little bottle of Sake and filled his own mug. Although he wasn't having a conversation with anyone, he was still chuckling like a crazy man.

Sasuke was just annoyed. Here he was, sitting next to an idiot who was mostly chuckling to himself and all around him were more idiots. He had two drinks and they didn't affect him at all. But then again, two is not a lot at all. The only one who he could probably sympathise with was Neji, who was having the same expression as him on his face.

**There Where When is Now**

Chapter 3:

"Ne, Sakura…" Ino said, stretching Sakura's name and first looking at Sakura and then motioned with a nod towards Sasuke, Naruto and Neji. "Why don't you go over there and try to start a conversation, eh?"

Sakura frowned at Ino before looking at the trio. "Why don't you, Ino? Why should I start it?"

Ino frowned right back. "Because I'm too busy serving the guests." With that, she earned Sakura's frown, since Ino was simply on the couch drinking along with the others. "Besides, you keep glancing towards them!"

"You look at them the whole time too!" She yelled back.

Hinata nervously looked over at where Naruto, Neji and Sasuke were seated. She looked slightly surprised to see Naruto staring right back at the three of them. Did Naruto hear them? She chose to be silent.

"But fine, I will go over there! Someone has to start it some time!" Sakura proudly stated.

Ino just shook her head. "Be my guest."

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Naruto awkwardly moved around between Neji and Sasuke. Both Neji and Sasuke frowned at him.

"What's wrong with you, idiot?" Sasuke asked as Naruto pushed him back a bit. "Stop fidgeting like that."

"Uh, Sakura-chan's approaching…" Naruto said. "She… She's all yours, Sasuke!" He yelled before he walked over towards the eating Chouji and the drinking Shikamaru.

Neji and Sasuke looked at each other with a frown, before Sakura plunged down on the couch between them. "So… Sasuke-kun, Neji-kun… How are the two of you doing?"

Sasuke narrowed her eyes at the pink-head. 'Sakura. Just when I thought this so called 'party' couldn't get worse…'

Neji questioningly frowned at the pink-head, but answered nonetheless. "Fine."

Sasuke nodded, answering in the same way.

Sakura smiled nervously, unsure of what to say next. "Umm, so… I just wanted to say… Thank you for fighting with us against the Akatsuki."

"I protected my own Village, that's all there is to it." Neji explained.

Sasuke just sighed. "Well, we didn't do too much."

Just then, Ino seemed to have appeared in front of them. "Sasuke-kun! Want another drink?"

Sasuke stared at Ino and simply shook his head. Ino continued. "What about you, Neji-kun?"

Neji also shook his head. "No, thanks."

'This conversation is going nowhere. They should have just stayed there…' Sasuke thought as he watched Kiba land on the couch where Hinata was seated. Shino followed.

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"Hinata-chan! This is pretty boring, ey?" Was Kiba's opening line.

Hinata slowly nodded her head.

"So, when will you become Jounin, Hinata-san?" Shino asked.

"Ah, the Jounin Exam is in a few months." Hinata answered. "A lot of Konoha Chuunins are going to take it."

Shino nodded. "I see. What have you planned for the first test of the Chuunin Exam?"

Hinata smiled at Shino, relieved to have found something to talk about she actually liked talking about. "Well… As in the first Chuunin Exam, but with us there are more paper tests. The first is to test their intelligence, the second is to see if they can detect the Chakra on the paper, deactivating the Genjutsu that is the Second test and the third is the similar to the test Morino Ibiki had given."

"Just boring paper tests then?" Kiba said while shaking his head. "But from the looks of it, this test you're giving them will take out far more Genins already."

Hinata nodded her head. "Yes. But this way, those who get passed the test have a higher chance of actually becoming Chuunin. And that's how it's supposed to be like… right?"

Shino nodded his head. "Yes. Unlike many times before, this test truly tests the potential to become Chuunin. Very good, Hinata-san."

Hinata smiled. "Thanks, Shino-kun."

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"Tcheh, can't you just drink and shut up, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked as he grabbed another drink.

Naruto shook his head. "Noo! I want to know how everyone is! How they changed! Tell me!"

Chouji just kept eating, not bothering to look at Shikamaru or Naruto.

"Fine, fine. You're a real bother, you know?" Shikamaru reacted. "First, let's take Chouji. I can't really remember when you guys left exactly, but we had a few dangerous missions, me and Chouji."

Naruto nodded his head, motioning for Shikamaru to continue.

Shikamaru sighed. "What… I still have your attention?" He sighed again. "How troublesome. Well, I saved Chouji's life many times and he saved mine many times. In the time we were both Chuunins we were a team. We grew stronger and better and all that, you know? And that's the basic story of everybody around here. Finished, now leave me alone."

Naruto pouted. "Oy, Shikamaru… Tell me about… uhmm, the Jounin Exam, did you take it?"

Unlike the usual sigh, Shikamaru actually smiled. "The Jounin Exam was a real pain… I was forced to take it by both my mother and Ino. It was really troublesome. But the Jounin Exam… It involves more intelligence than strength. Sure you have to be powerful and the last test is mainly a blood fest of battles, but before you reach that last test, you have to use your brains. And all by yourself too. There are no teams."

Naruto took all this in. "Heh… so what do you mean, you have to use your brains??"

Now, Shikamaru did sigh. "It means a lot of paper tests, improvising in awkward situations to see if you can make important decisions like Jounins would make. The most troublesome test was when I had to take three Student Ninjas, not even Genin yet, through an A-Rank Mission and I was to protect them so much that they wouldn't even have ONE scratch on them. Very troublesome…"

Naruto sighed. "Aw man… paper tests?"

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"So… Neji."

Neji sighed, regretting his decision to leave Sasuke alone with Sakura. As soon as he rose to find a seat somewhere else, Ten-Ten and Lee approached him. Now the three of them were simply standing in the middle of a room full of chattering people.

"Yes, Lee?" Neji responded, scanning the room for an empty chair.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you. Remember the time when we fought each other? I just wanted to say I want a rematch!"

Neji rolled his eyes. "I've heard that sentence too many times…" Neji inwardly smiled, though. 'And I can't believe it… but I missed hearing that…' Neji cracked a smile. "Yes, we should do that, Lee… I look forward to being the victor once again…"

Lee laughed. "I trained even harder after my defeat! I won't fall easily!"

Ten-Ten giggled. "Neji. I have to train my team tomorrow and I wanted you to join us… I wanted them to meet you, the true genius of the Hyuga Clan."

Neji frowned and smiled at the same time. "Meeting me won't be particularly amusing for them, will it now? But I would like to see you as a Jounin Instructor. So, count me in. What time?"

Ten-Ten smiled happily. "Well, the time is 9 AM tomorrow!"

Neji's eyes widened. 'That early?! Damn, I must have taken over a few treats of Naruto… That lazy…' Neji sighed. "I'll be there."

Lee spoke up. "Uh, Neji? Hyuga Hanabi is a student of mine. And she's really"

"Spoiled?" Neji interrupted.

Lee smiled. "A little. But I think you are the best tutor for her when I'm not available to her. Can you help her out?"

Neji turned serious. "No. She's still way too young for me to teach her any of the more advanced techniques. The basics she'll have to learn for herself."

Lee nodded. "I guess you're right."

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"So, mind if I join you guys?"

Shino and Kiba looked up to see Naruto with a huge plate of food before them. Shino frowned and Kiba simply shrugged. Hinata slightly blushed.

"Ah… Shino-san…" Naruto started as he grabbed a chair. The couch was fully occupied as Hinata, Shino and Kiba were seated on it. "I apologize for… you know, killing your subordinates…" He ended by looking away in shame.

Shino's frown was still apparent. "No need to apologize. A Shinobi dies on missions. We all expected this and I didn't plan and getting to know them personally to avoid having emotional problems over their deaths."

Naruto returned a frown of his own. "You didn't know any of them personally?"

Shino shook his head.

"Ah, it's just his way of being a Shinobi." Kiba said. "So, Naruto… Mind teaching me how to do the Advanced Clone technique?"

Naruto blinked. "Eh? Sure! It does take pretty much Chakra, though… You guys want to know it too?"

Hinata smiled and nodded.

"I already know the technique." Shino said.

Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head. "Well, I do have a small problem… Every time I do one technique for the first time, I kinda use too much Chakra and instead of creating one Clone I create like… fifty…"

Kiba sweatdropped. Shino frowned and Hinata smiled. 'Naruto-kun… Now that he has so much Chakra, he has to get used to that… He needs to re-learn his Chakra Control… Maybe I can help him with that…'

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Sasuke was getting more aggravated by the seconds. He remembered a day where Ino and Sakura both said they were over him, so why were they sitting next to him? It was more than annoying… 'Damn them…'

Sakura giggled loudly as she had her arm around Sasuke's right arm. Ino had Sasuke's left arm. Sasuke was scowling. 'Why does this keep happening to me?! I'm starting to regret my decision to stay in Leaf Village…'

"Ne, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura began. "What happened after Orochimaru abducted you all those years ago?"

Sasuke frowned. "Nothing. I got stronger and that's it."

"And how did he treat you?" Ino asked.

Sasuke merely frowned.

"Well? Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. "Was he cruel?"

Sasuke's frown grew. "Hey… What kind of tests are you giving the Genins in the first Exam?"

Sakura and Ino both blinked, but smiled a second later. "Paper tests!"

"I see. In the same way the first one we took went?"

Ino and Sakura nodded their heads. "Only this time there will be more paper tests!"

Sasuke took a look around himself. "How interesting."

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'I'm glad I've decided to leave early. I can imagine Sasuke's look right now…' Neji chuckled to himself. He and Sasuke were planning on sneaking out of Ino's house and go home, but Sasuke got noticed by Sakura and Ino and got dragged back in. But Neji was able to escape.

Suddenly, Neji tensed up a bit as he sensed someone approach. He activated his Byakugan and what he saw made him frown. "What's this? Is the Main Family still so protective that you're going to pick up your heiress while she is on a… party?"

A snort came from out of the darkness and after a few moments, Hiashi Hyuga stood before Neji. "No, actually. I spotted you with my own Byakugan and decided to face you now."

Neji frowned. "Why? I have no time to talk with you and neither do I feel like returning to the Hyuga estate. So any attempt at trying to get me back will be ignored, know this."

Hiashi shook his head. "You can do whatever you like, Neji." This did surprise Neji a little bit as Neji's eyes only slightly widened. Hiashi continued. "But there is one thing I want to know…"

Neji folded his arms. "What, then?" Neji narrowed his own eyes as he watched Hiashi go into a fighting stance.

"I want to see how strong you have become."

Neji smiled and unfolded his arms as he also went into the Hyuga fighting stance. "Any attempt at the handseal that will activate the Curse Seal on my forehead will also be ignored. I have gained the ability to withstand it."

Hiashi lifted both his eyebrows at this. "Is that so? You can withstand it, but for how long?"

"Why talk about this when we could already be fighting?" Neji retorted.

"That is not how a Hyuga should act in a battle. We are known to be patient in battles, especially very difficult ones, where we calculate our victory."

Neji shook his head. "That patience is unnecessarily."

Hiashi frowned. "And why is that?"

"All the patience that was once required for me got washed away when I learned the Senshin-Byakugan. That does my calculating…"

Hiashi nodded and smiled. "Good. It's good to see you understand what to use the Senshin-Byakugan for."

Neji motioned with his right hand for Hiashi to come. "Enough… Senshin-Byakugan!"

"Senshin-Byakugan!" Hiashi activated his as well. "Before we start… how did you learn of the Senshin-Byakugan?"

Neji sighed, but actually wanted to groan. "You talk too much… This is the last time we speak before the battle starts. Hyuga Dareda taught me the Senshin-Byakugan."

Hiashi's eyes widened as Neji rushed forward and suddenly disappeared from view.

Hiashi, with his Senshin-Byakugan, could easily see what Neji was doing and where he was. 'He has a perfect body, there are no injuries anywhere…No weaknesses either. Interesting… I really wonder how strong he has become.'

Hiashi dodged the punch coming from above him and reacted with an upwards kick, but Neji was already gone. Around him, he could hear Neji speaking. "My speed exceeds yours, I see. Why don't you show me how you fight someone faster than you?"

Hiashi smiled. "Very well. Watch and try to learn…" He breathed in, preparing to make a move. "Kaiten, Fuchi Chuubu!!"

Neji was halted to a stop as Hiashi's giant Heavenly Spin forced his own Chakra system to stop. "Ugh… Impressive, I never thought of using the Kaiten this way… However, I am still too far away from you, you can not physically harm me. And I'm a Hyuga too, I can force Chakra out of my Chakra Holes and undo the negating effect of the Chakra Chuubu."

Hiashi nodded. "That is true. This technique is very effective against most opponents, except for another Hyuga."

Neji smiled and made the Chakra flow in his own Chakra system increase, deactivating Hiashi's Fuchi Chuubu. "Thanks for showing me a new technique. Now let me teach you one."

Hiashi narrowed his own Senshin-Byakugan and saw Neji's Chakra expand through both his hands. 'Chakra Strings?'

"It's a new technique of mine and this one will work on a Hyuga too." Neji smiled at Hiashi, before talking again. "Enkyori Tenketsu Muchiutsu."

Hiashi's eyes widened as he saw Neji's two Chakra strings expand and suddenly lash out towards him. 'How precise…'

Hiashi grunted in pain as the 64-Opening Points Attack started on him. Neji's Chakra whips were hitting Hiashi's opening points one by one. 'So… he was able to form a technique similar to the 64 Opening Points Attack, only from a distance? He has even surpassed me…'

Neji smiled as Hiashi fell on his knees. "It is over."

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Hanabi was frowning as she watched the three Jounins stand before her. She was surprised to see that Lee had totally recovered again. But about this all teams meeting, she already knew what they were going to say. The Chuunin Exam was in a few days already. She already understood everything about it and didn't really want to be here.

"Okay, listen up, everybody!" Lee yelled. "As all of you know, the Chuunin Exam is close! Hanabi-san, Ujin-san, Toji-san, I have told Hokage-sama you three are ready to take it!"

Shikamaru softly groaned. "That goes for the three of you as well." He said, glancing at his own students, Konohamaru, Moegi and Aoba Ruin.

Ten-Ten followed. "I, too, told the Hokage the same thing. You three are ready to take it. Your teamwork has improved over the missions we had." She told her students, Udon, Enola and Kensu

Lee coughed once. "Well, this Chuunin Exam requires for you three to work as a team in tests. Help each other, save each other and… comfort each other at all times."

Hanabi frowned. 'Comfort each other? That's not something a Shinobi should do…'

Shikamaru yawned. "Just listen to him…" He said to his own students before closing his eyes.

"Also, some of the tests might force you to take drastic measures and make important decisions. It is up to you to know what the right and the wrong decision is. They'll be judging on your decisions and your abilities and see if you are fit to become a Chuunin at this age." Ten-Ten explained. "Now, let's train."

'Neji's late…' Ten-Ten thought.

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There was a certain calmness, a quietness, a feeling of rest at this place, before a massive blast of fire passed through and eradicated most of the trees.

"You missed me, Sasuke!" A voice yelled boisterously.

The said Uchiha was performing handseal after handseal. "Hyouketsu no Jutsu!!" Instead of shooting surge of Ice towards Naruto, he sent it towards Neji, who had also been forming a few handseals, to prepare an attack for Naruto.

Neji groaned as he jumped upwards to avoid Sasuke's Ice Attack. 'It's a real pain… this 'free-for-all' training. But it sure improves us.'

Sasuke somersaulted away as ten of Naruto's Clones came crashing through the ground. Sasuke easily dealt with them by leaving a "Katon, Inferuno!!" behind.

One Naruto was running around, screaming as he was literally burning. The real Naruto shook his head and made it disappear. He felt a hard smack on his face as Neji managed to hit him hard with one of his Chakra whips. Naruto flew backwards because of the blow and saw Sasuke throw a Raikiri at him as he was falling. 'Damn! It almost looks as if they're working together here!'

Naruto landed on his back and quickly rolled sideways to avoid getting hit by Sasuke's Raikiri. He looked up again to see Neji had started shooting lightning bolt after lightning bolt at Sasuke, who was dodging and shooting fireballs back at Neji. It was an awesome sight, Naruto had to admit.

Naruto grinned and performed a few seals. "Hehe… Ensho no Jutsu!!"

Sasuke and Neji immediately noticed the sudden change in temperature around them. Naruto had used the Heat Wave, a move that increased the temperature around Naruto in a radius of hundred meters dramatically. The temperature was as hot as Sasuke's fire attacks.

Naruto grinned. Now this had become a Stamina fight. He performed seals again. "Ryouganku no Jutsu!!"

Sasuke and Neji both jumped away as Naruto breathed Lava towards them. Naruto jumped backwards to avoid getting hit by Sasuke's earthquake attack. Neji suddenly appeared in front of Sasuke and kicked him hard in the gut. Sasuke flew backwards and yelled. "Suicchi!!"

Neji's eyes widened as now he was the one who was flying backwards into a tree and Sasuke was the one still standing. 'So, he can now even switch the position of himself and his opponent no matter in what state?' Neji thought as he collided hard with a tree.

Sasuke did not have time to gloat as he felt Naruto approach him from behind. He turned around and stood face to face with more than thousand Naruto Clones. "Naruto! That's so annoying!"

All of the Narutos chuckled, making Sasuke cover his ears. "Shut up!! Katon, Inferuno!!"

With that, a huge Inferno of Fire was created and most of the Clones were defeated again. Some Narutos were still standing. Neji was also back up again.

"Let's call it a day. We've already been at it for half of the day."

Naruto deactivated the Heat Wave around them and turned to follow Neji and Sasuke at they walked homewards.

"So, tomorrow is the Chuunin Exam's First Test, huh?" Naruto asked. "I can't wait to fight all those Genins."

"It's unfair for them. There is no way they can possible win against us." Sasuke said. "But it's only to let them show their ability to the judgers."

Neji nodded. "We should let the Genins try everything they can against us, before knocking them out." Neji's eyes widened. "Uhm! I need to go!" He quickly said. 'Damn, Ten-Ten is probably waiting!'

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"So the main idea for us to just let them go through the Forest of Death? Don't you think that's boring?" Kiba asked. "It's too easy."

"I was not finished yet, Kiba." Shino reacted. "I am the Examiner of the Second test. You Chuunins have the duty to hunt them down and try to stop them. Do everything you can to stop them from reaching the Tower. Also, like in the previous tests of previous Chuunin Exams, they have to steal Scrolls from each other. But the difference is, they only get three days this time."

Kiba laughed. "That's great! So I get three days of hunting them down? Let me guess, I'm not allowed to kill them?"

Shino nodded. "No, your main duty is to hunt them down and defeat them in battle if you can."

Kiba snorted. "Of course I can beat them!"

Shino continued. "Also, you are allowed to take their scrolls as well. So, you can face them in a fight, take their scroll and scare them. Your main goal is to see if they will turn back and give up. If they continue, they deserve to pass this test."

"And what if they don't even make it?" Kiba asked. Behind him, Chouji was listening as well, but was mostly eating.

"If they cover more than half of the land, they pass. The presence of Scrolls and Chuunins are just to scare them, to make them turn back. To pick the cowards from the brave. On the end of the third day, you are allowed to knock every Genin out who hasn't made it yet. Those that have made it, pass automatically. Those that managed to cover more than half pass as well. But all others fail. You have to try and stop them from even reaching the half of the area."

Kiba nodded his head. "Understood."

"I asked Hokage-sama to only use you two Chuunins, she approved." Shino said.

Kiba smiled. "As could be expected, a Chuunin like me will be enough to take care of all of them!!"

Shino frowned.

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"Ok, this is going to be very boring…" Sasuke stated as he took a seat to the side of the classroom. Next to him was Naruto and next to Naruto was Neji. They were, together with other Chuunins, observing all Genins and making sure no one cheated.

Neji smiled. "No kidding… I have a Byakugan, Hinata-sama has a Byakugan, you have the Sharingan and Naruto has perfect senses. Add to that, Kiba also has good eyes and a good nose, probably ears too. Chouji is… just eating."

Naruto chuckled. "Heh! But guess what I brought!?"

Sasuke and Neji both looked at Naruto, who was sitting in between them. A sweat drop appeared on the back of both their heads as Naruto grabbed about three cups of Ramen from out of his dark red cloak.

All three of them turned their attention towards the front of the classroom as Hinata, Sakura and Ino had arrived. All Genins, there were a lot, were also paying attention.

"Ok, listen up!!" Ino yelled. "This is the first Test of the Chuunin Exam. This one involves… three paper tests!"

Most Genin groaned as she announced that.

Ino started walking around, giving each Genin the first paper test. Hinata continued. "If you try to cheat and you get spotted cheating three times, you and your entire team will fail!"

"As you can see, there is a number on the table where you are seated. When your number is being called, you fail! Understand?"

Naruto smiled as the first test began. He began eating his Ramen, earning a few questioning glares from the other Chuunins. As Naruto wanted to begin, he saw Sakura stand before him. Naruto looked back at her.

"Give me that, Naruto-kun!" Sakura whispered dangerously. "Idiot!"

Naruto pouted as three of his cups of Ramen got snatched by Sakura. "You better not eat any of those!" He whispered back as Sakura walked away. Neji and Sasuke couldn't help but smile but kept a close eye on the Genins.

"Number 64! You and your team fail!" Neji and Hinata suddenly said, at the same time. They smiled at each other. Naruto and Sasuke frowned. "Show-offs." Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke smirked as he saw Genins perform Jutsus so they would cheat unnoticed. In a weird way, he felt enjoyed it as he uttered. "Number 14! You and your team fail!"

Sasuke smirked even more as number 14 began to scream. "I did not cheat, you bastard!"

The Genin didn't even have time to react as Sasuke appeared behind him and had knocked him out in less than a second. "Idiot. You should know better than to question me." Sasuke said, before returning to his seat. Number 14's team mates were about to drag him out of the classroom.

"Another show-off." Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke snorted as he heard Naruto mumble.

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TBC

A/N: Ok, to those who think I have no plot, I do! But it might turn out to be a bit bigger than the other books… Oh well… What happens, happens. Sorry for the late update, but I now have a site of my own! It's: w ww.TokehGecko.com!! Well if there's an empty space behind 'It's' then it isn't working! Well, you can find the URL of my homepage on my Profile! Please Join the Forums on my site! It's rather empty still… please? Neway, thanks for reading!!


	4. An Ultimate Ambition

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: Howdy!! Sorry for the somewhat late update, but... here ya have it, anyway! Not a lot of action, but a little is revealed in this one. Hope you understand all of it, if not, yell at me and I'll try to explain! I hope you enjoy!

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Review Reply Corner:

**Perverted-senin**: W00t! Thanks a lot! I hope you like this one too, thanks for the review!!

**Night-Owl123**: Ah, I'm glad you like it!! Here's another update, thanks for reviewing!!

**Dark** **Phoenix**: Well… the Forest of Death part isn't that big… only a little, hope you enjoy that part. Heh, well, I'll try to make it a bit more understandable next time, then, apologies for the confusion. Thnx for reviewing!

**Lady** **Light**: Yep, you're right! I did it on purpose, but there a re a lot more Genins participating than in previous years. Hope you like this chappy and thanks for the review!

**Sally**: Heh, all Naruto does is show-off!! And he's beginning to get quite good at it now too! Naruto deserves respect!! Oh well, thanks for reviewing!

**TyRooNe**: Heh, thanks a lot! I ever expected anyone to say such things to me… Thanks!! Uhmm, I hope this chapter will be enjoyable too… Ack, thanks for reviewing!!

**ErikKoekkoek**: Hehe, and what a nice ending of the chapter it was…. sighs happily 9 pages plus three, huh? This chapter only has 11, man… one less… This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, though, only about 4000 words. Anyway, you should write your fic fast!! I want to read the next chappy! Thanks for the review!

**Karibanu**: Yeah, Naruto DOES need someone who can keep him in check… It seems the better candidates for that are Ino, Sakura or Temari. Sasuke indeed does need someone who won't annoy him… Hinata or Ten-Ten could work, the same applies to Gaara, but it's a bit doubtful whether he would date girls ever. Neji also has somewhat the same feel to him as Sasuke does. Heh, so many options… Thanks for the review!

**Mizu** **no** **Yami**: Hehe, banned from the computer… Oh well, I'm glad you liked it! Many thanks, but the review wasn't THAT late…

**Moonlight's** **Shadow**: Yeah, they probably do, those arrogant Shinobis! I'm kinda dealing fast with the two first tests, so there won't be much of it in this chapter. Thanks for the review!

**EfrainMan**: Hehe, scratches head nervously Well, writing romance is hard, especially for in a Shinobi World… The only romantic thing I've ever read about in the Manga was when Shikato told Shikamaru why he got married… Oh well, Thanks for the review!

**Shade89**: Naruto? Showing off? Naruto would never do such a thing ;) Ah, I'm glad you liked it! About your story, I suggest you put Jin a bit more on the background and give more attention to the main characters. Try inserting more Ino and Shikamaru POVs… At least, I think… No guarantee that it'd work…

**Griever** **of** **Hyuuga** **Neji**: Huh? It's still not sure whether Neji died, right? Heh, yeah, Shino will probably be the judge in the Final Test of the Chuunin Exams. Many thanks for reviewing!

**Gopu**: Thanks! Glad you liked it!

**CurlsofSerenity**: Yeah… Shino smiles, I do wonder how he looks then, though? Oh well, shrug shrug, thanks for the review!!

**Aznboiblk**: Heh, I'm glad you think so! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy and thnx for reviewing!

**RuByMoOn17**: WOW, thanks a lot! You'll review every time?! That's often, many thanks! Thanks for liking the fic!

**Salsar** **Thiran**: Thank, I'm glad you think it's very nice! Thnx for the review!

**:D**: Yep, that's a bit IC, right? Shikamaru whining and Naruto getting jealous because he isn't receiving attention or showing off! Many thanks for the review!!

**Stoictimer**: Yeah, they shouldn't cheat at all :P! What do you think of Neji, who has the Byakugan? He can see everyone who cheats… Oh well, I probably have another book after this one! Hope you enjoy!

**FlareOfDragon**: Heh, yeah… Naruto was never really good with Chakra Control, but he had mastered it before Kyuubi's Chakra was fully added to his own. So now he has to start all over again :P. No worries about the late review, I'm gad you reviewed at all! So thanks!!

**Youshi**: Heh, I'm glad you thought it was funny!! Hope you like this chappy too! Thnx for reviewing!!

**DocDragon**: Uhmmm… Neh, I already have enough for now, I might need some in the future, I'll ask then, ok? Neway, many thanks for reviewing!!

**Narsuke**: Wow, Thanks for saying that!! I really appreciate it! Uhmm, well, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy! Thanks for the review!!

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He wasn't bored easily, but right now he was much more than just bored. Aggravation and annoyance this time accompanied the feeling. Naruto was getting quite frustrated at having nothing to do. Neji, Hinata and Sasuke saw everything that went on in the class anyway so he didn't have anything to do. He was more annoyed because of the fact his own Ramen got snagged by Sakura. He now liked Sakura a lot less for doing just that.

Scanning the area, he had to admit that there were still many Genins present. He also had to admit there were a lot more Genins participating than when he had participated. He looked around and saw that Konohamaru was still seated as well. Konohamaru a Chuunin? Yeah, right! Naruto grinned to himself. If his skills were just as good as so many years ago, he wouldn't be surprised if Konohamaru would stay Genin forever.

Naruto sighed in relief as he watched Hinata announce the end of the First Test of the First Exam.

'About damn time…'

**There Where When is Now**

Chapter 4: An Ultimate Ambition

Naruto watched as Sakura, Ino and Hinata started handing papers around again. 'Oh, right. They were to have three paper tests this time… I can't remember what this one is about, though.'

Naruto slightly frowned as he watched the expressions of the Genins. It seemed this Test was even harder than the previous one. Naruto groaned inwardly. Another half hour doing nothing at all.

"The rules for the previous Test apply for this Test as well! Cheat and get caught and you're out of here!" Ino yelled, fury flying off of her as she spoke. Naruto shivered once.

After five minutes, Naruto grinned as he saw a young girl cheat three times in a row. 'My time to show off!'

Just as Naruto was going to yell that number 43 failed, Sasuke yelled it. "Number 43, fail!!"

Naruto sent an awesome death glare to Sasuke. 'You bastard…… I'm going to kill you….'

Sasuke snorted with a grin as he noticed Naruto's glare.

'Perhaps I should just try and go to sleep.' Naruto thought as he turned away from Sasuke. 'Neji, Sasuke and Hinata can take care of this anyway.'

A pinch in his shoulder roughly woke him up five minutes later. Looking angry, Naruto looked to his right to see Ino walking away. 'Damn that hurt… a little bit, anyway! Stupid Ino!'

Naruto then noticed a few Genins in the back who had a… blank paper in front of them. 'Then… all those papers… there's a Genjutsu on all of them?' Naruto carefully performed the hand seals for the Cancel Technique.

Neji's, Sasuke's and Hinata's eyes widened at what happened next. Instead of only cancelling the Genjutsu for himself, Naruto had cancelled the Genjutsu for the entire class. It seemed he definitely needed to get that Chakra Control back. Naruto himself didn't notice, though.

Neji and Sasuke shook their heads and Hinata smiled. Sakura and Ino had no idea what just happened and were impressed that the entire class managed to see through the Genjutsu this quick.

"You owe me one…" Neji whispered to Naruto.

"Me too." Sasuke whispered.

Naruto looked puzzled. "For what?" He whispered back.

Sasuke and Neji both face vaulted.

Hinata also chose not to tell Sakura and Ino it was Naruto who had cancelled all of the Genjutsu in the class. For Naruto's sake. Sakura looked at Ino, who looked at Hinata, who shrugged. Then Sakura and Ino shrugged and Sakura announced: "Congratulations! It seems all of you spotted the Genjutsu! Are you all ready for the Third and last paper test?"

"Ok, this is the most important test! This decides if you are ready to go through this Test and take the Second Exam. Passing this Exam does not say you're ready to become a Chuunin! There are ten questions on this one, but you'll get the tenth question at the end! If you get caught cheating three times, you're out! If you get cheat once or twice and didn't get caught the third time, you'll probably won't have enough points! In total you can get ten points, one for each question! If you cheat and get caught, it means you lose two points! The minimum of point you have to get to pass this Exam is six. So you can cheat two times and still pass the exam, IF you have every question right!" Ino paused. "Begin! You have one half hour!"

Naruto yawned. 'This is going to be very boring…'

Sasuke and Neji both heard Naruto's yawn and understood what Naruto meant with it. They had to agree. This was going to be boring. Neji and Sasuke activated their Bloodline Limits and started smiling as they spotted Genin after Genin cheating. Naruto, meanwhile, was sleeping again.

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Shikamaru, Lee and Ten-Ten were talking about their own Students in a small restaurant. Shikamaru yawned as Lee was telling them who were the Exam instructors.

"So, this first Test will be very difficult for my students, except for Hanabi Hyuga. But Neji and Sasuke will be observing, so cheating is something close to impossible there. The Second Test will be held by Aburame Shino. It's held in the Forest of Death so I think it will be the same as when we had to take the Chuunin Exam. The Third Test will be held by Naruto, Neji and Sasuke, but I don't know what kind of test it will be."

Shikamaru yawned in response. Ten-Ten responded different. "I think there will be fights in the Third Test, similar to when we took it."

"Heh, could as well be a Ramen Contest, he who eats faster than Naruto gets to be Chuunin… I bet Chouji would win that." Shikamaru said.

Lee smiled. "It's too bad we can't watch our students take the Chuunin Exam."

"Heh, I don't care, actually. It gives me more free time." Shikamaru sighed happily.

"I miss my students already…" Ten-Ten said, slightly groaning.

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Naruto noticed there were a lot less Genins left now, but still a lot, more than when he had taken the Exams. He was relieved to hear Hinata announce the end of the test after she 'asked' everyone the last question. It was surprising to see Hinata talk so harsh to the Genins, because it was so unlike Hinata, but at the same time… it suited Hinata too…

"Aah, finally! It's over! We're not supposed to be helping with the Second test, right?" Naruto asked as he looked at Neji and Sasuke.

Sasuke shook his head. "It will take a few days before we have our turn again. I kinda… enjoyed this."

Neji smiled. "Yes, this Chuunin Exam is… fun."

Naruto frowned at the two of them. "Jeez, you make it sound like it's impossible to have some fun. Anyway, I promised Iruka-sensei to treat him Ramen after this! Care to join us?"

Neji and Sasuke both nodded, almost immediately. It seemed they liked Ramen almost as much as Naruto now. "It's been a while since I've seen Iruka…" Sasuke said.

"I'm… just hungry." Neji said as Shino entered the Class Room and told all Genins to report in front of the Gates of the Forest of Death tomorrow morning. Naruto, Neji and Sasuke rose from their seats and left the room together with all others.

"So, Konohamaru! Enjoyed yourself?" Naruto asked as Konohamaru was walking in front of him.

"Naruto-nii!! This is the first time you've talked to me since you got back here!!" Konohamaru pouted. "You owe me Ramen, Naruto-nii!!"

Sasuke and Neji groaned. 'Great… Now that little brat is going to join us too…'

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Iruka looked surprised to see more people enter the Ramen Bar behind Naruto. Naruto looked surprised too, since Anko and Kakashi were sitting next to Iruka. Everyone greeted each other before they sat down and ordered whatever they wanted.

"So, how did the first test go?" Iruka asked.

"It was hard, Iruka-sensei! If it wasn't for my team mates, I probably wouldn't have passed." Konohamaru answered.

"It was boring." Naruto answered. "Sakura stole my Ramen, Ino pinched me real hard and Neji and Sasuke were showing off."

Sasuke snorted. "Most of those Genins are really not talented."

Neji nodded. "Indeed. I wouldn't be surprised if not a single one of them became Chuunin."

"Hey! You take that back!" Konohamaru yelled.

"Except for maybe Hanabi." Neji finished, ignoring Konohamaru.

"Well, whatever happens, you'll at least have fun. I'm off duty for another month." Kakashi lazily said, although it almost sounded like he was whining.

"Heh! I have an A-Class Mission tomorrow! Have to lead an ANBU Team, though. Leading an ANBU Team is really a pain…" Anko whined.

"How does it work with our Hunter-nins?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

Kakashi and Anko both frowned, while Naruto and Neji wanted to know as well. Kakashi began. "Well… Konoha doesn't really have hunter-nins, but the mission to kill or retrieve a missing-nin comes in hands of the ANBU. So, you could say all of the ANBU are hunter-nins, but at the same time, they aren't."

Neji and Sasuke understood, while Naruto still seemed to think about it. "Do you get to choose your own mask?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi sighed while the others sweatdropped. "No."

"Then I won't join the ANBU." Naruto decided. "I'll become a Jounin and then Hokage!!"

"Me too!" Konohamaru yelled.

"So this second test… it's going to be the same, isn't it?" Anko asked.

"It's held in the Forest of Death, but I don't know what they'll make the Genins do in there." Neji answered.

Kakashi suddenly shot his head upwards. "That reminds me. Naruto, Neji, Sasuke… You three should observe all of the Genins in the Forest of Death."

Feeling like their free time was ripped away from them, all of them responded with a "What!?"

"The Hyuga heir, Hyuga Hanabi is taking the Exam. There could be foreign Shinobi waiting for her in the Forest of Death. Also, Konohamaru here is a Sarutobi. If this Test is in any way similar to the previous ones, you need to watch them, but if Konohamaru or Hanabi are facing other participating Genins of this Chuunin Exam, you are not to interfere, even if they could die. In any other situation you are allowed to interfere." Kakashi stated.

Sasuke frowned. "You're not our Jounin Instructor anymore, you know. What makes you think we'll listen to you? All three of us are stronger than you."

Kakashi smiled at that. "True, but that doesn't make you three any smarter than me. I am a genius, remember?"

Neji and Naruto frowned. "What genius calls himself a genius?"

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With three days of having no decent bed, this was going to get ugly. Naruto, Neji and Sasuke had decided to split up and observe from different spots within the Forest of Death. Right now, Naruto was jumping from tree to tree, hiding his presence from the Genins beneath and around him. He grinned to himself as he landed on a broad tree branch and sat down.

'Ramen Time!'

Naruto grabbed two small Ramen bags from under his dark red cloak and a small pot. Using Water and Fire techniques to let the Ramen get ready, Naruto waited with a smile on his face.

"You idiot! What do you think you're doing here?!"

Naruto didn't turn around as he already knew who it was and had already smelled him long ago. "Hiya, Kiba! I'm just taking a break!"

Kiba let out a 'HUH?!' "A break?! The Test started ten minutes ago!!"

Naruto frowned. "Shut up, I'm eating!"

"You moron! I'm off hunting Genins! Don't get in my way!"

Naruto yawned as he saw Kiba jump away from him. 'Idiot. I should have beaten him up a bit so those Genins could beat him up as well.'

Further away, more like on the opposite side of the Forest of Death, Neji observed his surroundings with his Byakugan. A little away from him and beneath him, he saw Chouji fighting with one Genin Team. 'So, the main purpose is to not let the Genins reach even the half of this terrain. Akimichi Chouji, he has become quite strong. A lot more than before, anyway.'

Their mission right now was to find out if there were any outsiders in the Forest of Death. But Neji had already moved throughout the entire Forest of Death with his Byakugan activated and there was nothing to be found. This was going to get real boring. 'Three days…'

A little closer to Naruto, Sasuke was thinking the same thing. 'Even Kiba's and Chouji's job in this is better than what we have to do.'

Jumping to another tree, Sasuke looked around and saw two Genin Teams fight. 'A Hyuga? So that must be Hyuga Hanabi… Let's see how she fights…'

Hanabi was definitely the leader of the little group, she demanded the part of the leader, anyway, as she stood in front of Gekkou Toji and Morino Ujin. Gekkou was gripping his two swords nervously, but with determination. Morino didn't seem nervous at all, with his arms folded and his cold stare.

Hyuga Hanabi still had dark, long hair and arrogance swam across her features as she stared at the three other Genins across 'her' little team. "Heh, you mist Genins, like us, have only been Genin for a year. But our development as Genin isn't easily countered. Your features speak of fear and uncertainty. You should just give the scroll to us."

Gekkou Toji frowned at the girl before him. Toji had brown hair, that barely reached his shoulders and he was slightly taller than Hanabi. Like Gekkou Hayate, he had bangs under his eyes, but unlike Hayate, Toji didn't cough as often. 'Typical Hanabi… We don't have a Jounin with us now, but still we should be able to get through this test without too much trouble. Still, Hanabi should take it easy a little more…'

Morino Ujin was more focused on his surroundings than on his opponents. He had black hair, but didn't have a lot of hair and was close to being bald, but anyone could still easily see the black hair covering his head. He was the tallest of the group. "These idiots are wasting our time…"

The tallest Mist Genin in the middle snorted. "Why don't you shut up and fight?"

Hanabi nodded and rushed forward. The Mist Genins all looked confused at Hanabi's eyes, before bracing themselves for an attack. Hanabi suddenly crouched to let Toji soar over her with his two swords stretched out towards two Mist Genins. The swords were parried with Kunai with difficulty. Toji was using more force, so the two Mist Genins were forced to jump away. Toji somersaulted backwards above Hanabi, who was rushing underneath Toji towards the Third Mist Genin.

Not knowing the Gentle Fist Style, the Mist Genin tried hand-to-hand combat, only to get knocked out in a small ten seconds. The two other Mist Genins were too busy to notice as Ujin was slashing away at them with a huge staff with two sharp ends.

Hanabi smiled as Ujin slashed one Mist Genin across the chest, but frowned as the remaining Mist Genin created mist all around Ujin. "Morino! Duck!! Move to the left!! Now to the right!!"

Inside the mist, Ujin couldn't see a thing and was desperately listening to Hanabi. "Morino, roll backwards and keep rolling!!"

The Mist Genin wanted to continue his assault, but suddenly found two swords around his face. "Please move…" Toji whispered with a grin. The Mist Genin snarled. "Fine, you win."

Toji smirked as Ujin and Hanabi walked up to them. "I don't have the scroll, he has." He said as he pointed at the Mist Genin who had been knocked out first.

Sasuke grinned at the outcome of the battle. As expected from someone who is a relative of Neji. Sasuke took one last look back and noticed that Hanabi had noticed him. 'Of course, the Byakugan sees all…'

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"We considered your request and decided to let you join with the Hunter-Team. You are already familiar with all of them, since they are you siblings. We are, however, disappointed to see you have declined the job of Chuunin Leader."

"I tried."

"You trained with them once…" The man muttered before him.

"Nonetheless, I still tried. I can not stand weaklings like them. I was bound to kill them if they showed their weaknesses to me one more time…"

Baki sighed. This is what you get if someone grows to be incredibly strong. Arrogance simply was a companion. "Well, Temari and Kankurou are both on a mission right now, but should be back tomorrow, if everything goes well."

"Good."

Baki took one look at the boy before him, before he turned back to the papers on his desk. "Gaara, You are hereby promoted to a Sand Hunter-nin."

Gaara smiled. "Very good."

"You do know that the Jounin Exam is very close, right?"

Gaara nodded. "Yes and I will take it. Until then, I will hunt down traitors and it is my job… to kill them too, right?"

Baki sighed again. "Yes, you kill them, burn them or slice them apart. so no evidence is left and no one knows secrets from our Village."

Gaara nodded. "I understand."

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No one knew what his true goals were. He didn't exactly have best friends and the friends that he had, he himself didn't call friends. He wasn't someone who liked to talk, unless it mattered. Right now, his 'friends' didn't know what to do. The last war took many close lives. Sinobi Raidou was killed. Hyuga Dareda didn't show he cared, but Sinobi was his best friend, so the walk through the Shinobi lands was a little slower than usual on that particular day. Glancing sideways, he saw Mokito walking next to him.

Kisame was busy talking to Itachi, who didn't respond in any way whatsoever. It was always like that. Dareda really wanted to know what Itachi was trying to reach when they had been training Naruto, Gaara and Neji. Itachi wasn't a good guy and Dareda knew that. Mokito was just a bitch, a real one and she liked to demolish things, kinda like Kisame. He himself was completely against the way of the Hyuga. He helped Neji out with his Curse Seal, so Neji could perhaps do something about it back in Leaf Village.

"Enough, Kisame."

Dareda and Mokito both turned their heads to see that Itachi and Kisame had stopped walking.

"Very well, I will tell you what I am up to, as you put it."

Dareda smiled. 'So Kisame finally asked him the question, ey? What are your plans, Itachi? Everyone here listens to you….'

Itachi sighed. "To know one's own strength, one must be able to find a challenge. No limits, no rules should stop you from noticing your own capacity. There hasn't been a real challenge for me for a long time. I have not been able to compare my ability with someone else and I do not know how… strong… I really am."

Dareda narrowed his eyes. 'I see…'

"For this reason I have trained the demon children and genius child. Uzumaki Naruto has become frighteningly strong, as he has gained the power to defeat the most powerful demon, the Kyuubi, and he forced it to give all his Chakra to him, ultimately killing him… Gaara did the same, but has a weaker demon and has a smaller amount of Chakra than Naruto. Hyuga Neji is a Shinobi who has magnificent potential. He can become one of the strongest Shinobis because he has been blessed with an ability that fits him perfectly. We… are Shinobis who also can become the strongest Shinobis of all times… and time will tell, who the strongest of all is… when we meet them again…"

"So you're saying we're going to fight them next time we meet?"

Itachi nodded. "Yes. Even now, they will continue to grow. I have analyzed their potential and even compared to ours. They represent my ultimate challenge and killing them is my ultimate goal, to test myself."

With all of them left to their thoughts, Itachi thought it over in his own head. 'Perhaps, Sasuke can become a challenge for me too… if he grows fast enough…'

"Hm, Sure, Neji, Naruto and Gaara will grow like hell, but I doubt if Naruto would get any smarter!" Mokito yelled.

No one responded to that, except Kisame, who slightly grinned. "Heh, with so much power, who needs brains?"

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"So, how was it?"

"Bo-oring!! Three boring days!"

Iruka smiled at Naruto as they both sat down in front of the Ramen Bar. "So how many Genins made it?"

Naruto put both his hands on the counter and sighed. "I don't know… I wasn't paying attention… Tomorrow it's our REAL turn! And then we're going to kick some ass!"

Iruka laughed. "Yes, it sure will be fun to see the three of you fight!"

"Ne, Iruka-sensei? How was the Jounin Exam for you?" Naruto, at the same time curiously and seriously, asked.

Iruka put his hand under his chin and thought about how to answer. "Well… One thing is sure, you'll find the first part boring!"

Naruto's eyes widened in horror. "I hoped there wouldn't be paper tests!!"

"Other tests are for survival, intelligence, power and speed and making important decisions. That's all I'll tell you." Iruka said, folding his arms.

Naruto pouted. "Iruka-sensei is boring…"

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There had to be more to it. He was sure it was shown to him for a reason. But how would he get it if he didn't even know what it was? It wasn't fair, he was called a genius, yet it was his brother who had exceeded even THAT opinion as he rose far above the others' praises and expectations. And here he was trying to catch up to him, even after so many years…

But it sure as hell was no ordinary Sharingan. The eyes became completely black. How the hell would he manage THAT? Think black? There was just more to it. The Mangekyo Sharingan wasn't enough to defeat Itachi and he knew it. He had to practice… What was mainly an Uchiha thing? First there is the Sharingan, second… there was the fire… But is that how Itachi thought when he tried to develop this new skill with his eyes? But that's nonsense! No one ever shot fire out of their EYES! This was too stupid, too farfetched. It couldn't be that difficult.

'I will master that skill too!'

"Oy, Sasuke! I'm going home, enough training for me today. Don't tire yourself out, we need to be at full strength tomorrow."

Sasuke snorted. "For Genins, Neji?"

Neji nodded. "Yeah… We'd look a fool if we would pant even slightly against a Genin, especially since many people know how strong we are."

"For Genins… Even if I am close to fainting would I be able to defeat a Genin!" Sasuke almost yelled as he turned his back to Neji.

Neji shook his head. "Probably true, too, there aren't many promising Genins this year…"

Sasuke nodded his head. "So you noticed too? When we took the Exam we were a lot stronger than he Genins participating now."

"True, but our potential is amazing too, at least, that's what I heard…" Neji paused as he looked at Sasuke's back with his Byakugan. 'Chakra is leaving his body in a fast pace… He's obviously trying something new…' Neji shrugged. "Oh well, I'm going, I'll see you tomorrow." Neji said, knowing Sasuke would probably stay here till very late before he would return home.

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TBC

Well, in the chapter, it is up to Naruto, Neji and Sasuke to test all of the Genins… Will it be an all-Genin versus them fight, or will it be 1 on 1? I hope you'll read the next chapter too! Thanks for reading! And please, join the forums on my site!! It's still a bit quiet… Please???


	5. Forlorn and Emotional Guards

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto is THE owner of Naruto. I am not.

Author's Note: Lemme try something… Romance comes after understanding…

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Review Reply Corner:

**Sirus183**: Uhmm, no, Naruto is just goofing around in these first chapters… He'll be a bit smarter from now on. Well, here's the next update, hope you enjoy!!

**Kirin**** Kage the Shadow Girl**: Many thanks!! Here's an update!!

**One Azn Dragon**: Heh, you expect a good fight? Neji, Sasuke and Naruto versus a bunch of Genins? I hope this is good enough, then… Thanks for reviewing, man!

**RuByMoOn17**: I'll do just that! Naruto will be a bit smarter from now on. Though he'll slowly become smarter. Heh, thanks for reviewing!!

**ErikKoekkoek**: Yeah, no kidding. Those Genins are expecting Chuunin, who are only a BIT stronger than them… However… Ghehehe. Err.. Anyway! Thanks for reviewing! So where's chappy 10!

**Perverted-senin**: Gaara and doing stupid things?  Perhaps… I'll check your story out right after I have uploaded this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

**Gopu**: Many Thanks!

**Fallen Angel X**: Yep, hope you like the set-up. Thanks for the review!

**FlareOfDragon**: You've got all the Japanese translations right, I think. Wasn't that Mud dragon technique something like 'Doton. Doryudan'? I can't remember… Yep, there's action in this one, though not much… Hope you enjoy and thanks for reviewing!

**NightOwl123**: Wow, thanks!! I appreciate it! Here's the next chappy, thanks for reviewing!!

**Trickmaster**: Heh.. Sorry I took so long… Here's next chappy for ya, hope you enjoy! Thnx for reviewing!

**Lady Light**: Thanks! Well, I try to have a pairing for everyone! Neji and Sasuke definitely! Thanks for the review!

**Mizu no Yami**: Heh, sorry I took so long… Here's another update, this time a bit faster! Thanks for reviewing!!

**EfrainMan**: Heh, well, I find it really hard to write romance, since the characters don't really, REALLY know each other that well yet, so first comes the understanding each other part… Oh well, thx for reviewing!!

**CurlsofSerenity**: Heh, well Chapter 224 of the Manga tells me you need to kill a precious person to be able to wield the Mangekyo Sharingan… I guess I'll use that to be able to wield the Amaterasu… Err, thanks for reviewing!

**SaLLy11**: Did I take that long to update? Pouts Well, I hope this one was a bit faster! Naruto will show off soon! Thanks for reviewing!

**DocDragon**: Damn, you're totally right about it! Well, Neji, Naruto and Sasuke are ordered to hold back as much as they can… Heh, even then, they're too strong! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Aznboiblk**: Drifting off? No, I'm sure I'm not… Just taking my time to get where I want to be :), There's some action in this one. Thanks for reviewing!!

**Falcon**-**Rider**: Thanks!! Here's the next chapter, I hope you like! Thanks for reading and reviewing!!

**Stoictimer**: Well, they are allowed to cheat two times, so most cheated two times and that was enough to get enough answers on the test. I think that's... possible, right? Anyway, thanks for reviewing!!

**OpposingForce**: Heh, I'm glad you like it!! No worries about reviewing before, at least you reviewed! Your story, wasn't that 'Downfall of the Light'? It's nicely written and the description is great too. The only thing is, I think, that you're focusing almost everything on the Romance Development part of the fic. But if that's your intention, then it's good, of course. But a Shinobi Life can't be Romance alone, right? Though it would be kinda fun… But action is welcome too!. Oh well, I think your fic is great! I like the idea of the Death Knight ;), though sometimes your Naruto needs to lighten up ;)… Anyway, thanks for reviewing!!

**Dark** **Phoenix**: Ack, I'm sorry! This time the update is a bit faster, I hope! I'm glad you liked the previous chapter, thanks for reviewing!!

**Narsuke**: Whoa, thanks!! I'm glad you called it humour! I call it an attempt. But I'm glad you like this one too! Thanks for reading and reviewing!!

**Shunsoku**: Whoa, thank you very much!! I really appreciate that! I hope I made it all believable or realistic. I made Book 1 and 2 that way, so I could make Book 3 and 4, this way! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too! Thanks for the review!

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It is strange to think or know that people understand you. And it is sad to find out that completely no one understands you, even if you let them try. Some people come close, but unfortunately, close is still pretty far away. There is one for him, and he for the other, and together they truly understand each other. That's what he always knew and always believed, so why was he here, with a girl, no a woman, walking next to him. A woman, of who you knew, wanted to understand you. He had to admit that women understood things a lot faster. But he himself would not be understood by anyone but the other…

"Naruto-kun?"

Is it not senseless to keep trying? To keep letting them come close? Sure, he had been cured from the curse that was cast upon him by Itachi, the curse called Kuragari Okkanai. But still, these feelings roamed around his head. These feelings… loneliness, deceit and… shame, too. So, then he wondered why did they keep trying? Did they not know of the pain he had gone through to be where he was today? Did they not know how badly they were treating him? Did they not remember… that all of them… hated him?

Of course they didn't, because that hatred, to them, was there for a perfect reason. He was a demon, he had a demon in him, and that automatically made him the demon. He was a burden, he was ugly, he was annoying, he was useless and destined to die alone, was it?

And now that he beaten the demon, he should just forgive all of them? Sighing, he knew that was the only way it could work. To reach his own ambitions… He… he had to be the bigger man… In his own mind, he would be the most mature man…

"Ne, Naruto! Listen up!!"

**There Where When is Now**

- Chapter 5: Forlorn and Emotional Guards

"But, why, Sakura-chan?" Naruto groaned as he walked through the streets. He still had to get used to the fact that not ALL people were staring at him with hatred as their gaze. "I mean… You grabbed my Ramen at that Test!! Remember?! And, and, you never gave them back to me!! That was too mean of you!"

Sakura faked a pout, which Naruto snorted away. "Naruto-kun…" She whined. Sakura stopped walking and watched Naruto's back as he simply continued. "I had to grab them! It would be stupid if you ate Ramen during such an important test! Don't you see?! I'll… I'll make it up to you!" She quickly yelled.

Naruto frowned, stopping his walking to allow Sakura to catch up to him. "This better not be a trick… Jiraiya told me women always trick you into doing things for them, while in the beginning it seems they're doing something for you!"

Sakura frown exceeded Naruto's. "Whaat?! Jiraiya is an idiot then! I would never do such a thing! I… I simply wanted to go with you to the Ramen Bar!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You? To the Ramen Bar?" Naruto's frown returned. "Wait, you're not short on money, are you? Let me guess, I'm supposed to be paying, right?"

Sakura smiled. "If you are a true gentleman, you would."

Naruto snorted and started walking towards the Ramen Bar. "Thank god! 'Cause I'm no gentleman!"

Sakura groaned, but followed after Naruto. Naruto turned his head around a bit. "Oh, by the way, Neji and Sasuke should be there about five minutes later than us."

Sakura smiled at that. 'It seems those three are getting closer and closer. Always training with each other, doing missions with each other, they even eat together everywhere! But this is good! Sasuke-kun will come too!'

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"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!!"

'What is she doing here?' Sasuke thought as he took a seat next to Naruto. Naruto sat in the middle and was too busy eating away at his Ramen. "Ah, good morning."

Sakura smiled. "Had a nice sleep?"

Naruto looked up from his cup to bowl at Sasuke. He then swallowed the Ramen in his mouth with difficulty, so he could speak. "Oy, where's Neji?"

Sasuke chose to answer Naruto's question and ignore Sakura. "Ten-Ten came knocking at the door. I heard something about Neji telling Ten-Ten what the Third Test would be like."

Naruto frowned, which Sasuke noticed. Sasuke ordered two bowls of Ramen and replied to Naruto's frown. "Yes, I know. Neji knows as much as we do… which is nothing."

Naruto finished his bowl. "Well, he could know more… He is the leader of our little squad, after all."

"Then he would've already told us." Sasuke stated as his two bowls were put down in front of him. Sasuke began his eating.

Naruto turned to Sakura. "Ne, Sakura-chan? I thought you wanted to eat? Why are you not having anything?"

Sakura frowned. "Because I didn't bring any money." She dryly pointed out, though Inner Sakura was deviously smiling, though she started chuckling soon after. 'Now Naruto will pay for me! Or maybe even Sasuke-kun!'

Naruto took a look at both his bowls. "Well, today is Thursday and that's the day the three of us, Neji, Sasuke and me, get Ramen for free here." Naruto turned to Sasuke. "I don't have any money with me either… Do you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke just shook his head.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, but kept silent, unlike Inner Sakura. 'Damn you, you cheap bastard!!'

Naruto chuckled nervously as he noticed Sakura's glare. "Heh… I think the old man can make a difference for you, right, old man?"

The old man behind the counter turned around and stared at Naruto. "What do you want from me now, Naruto?"

Naruto again nervously laughed as a reply. "Well… The lady here." He pointed at Sakura.

"It's not polite to point fingers, Naruto!" Both Sakura and the old man yelled.

"Anyway, she doesn't have any money with her and neither do we!"

The old man snorted. "So it's Thursday, then… Fine, the young lady can have her meal for free, ONLY this one time, Naruto! What do you want, miss?"

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Why is it that some things, or rather, most things, come at the most annoying times? At least, that's how it went for him. Shikamaru never liked getting attention, never liked being praised and never liked… much. He only liked to watch the clouds and fly, or float among them. But getting ripped out of your thoughts and dragged away from the spot you were watching those clouds from was something he certainly didn't like.

Glaring at the one who was dragging him away, he groaned inwardly. 'Why me?'

If only she wanted something differently. He would let her drag him anywhere if… he wasn't tired, which was almost never. Or if she had the good reasons… which was also almost never. Right now, she only wanted to know something, probably, and since he was a genius, she probably figured he had the answers. 'How troublesome…'

"Shikamaru! You do know that you and Shino are going to be the referees in that last Test, right?! So you have to know what the test will be like?"

Of course, he was to be the judge, or the referee in the last Test of the Chuunin Exam. He was to be referee in most matches, except the ones where his own students would be participating. That one was reserved for Shino. It was a lot more troublesome now that he had to be referee… Only because of his Shadow Bind, no doubt. But Sasuke, Neji and Naruto could get out of his Bind, but all of the Genins couldn't.

"Shikamaru! Why aren't you answering!!"

Yes, girls, or women, could be very annoying sometimes… or most of the time. He never did quite understand why men would marry women. It simply was more troublesome. Less money, less free time, usually no sake and the possibility of… children. Looking in front of him, he decided to answer the angry blonde woman, called Yamanaka Ino.

"Ino… Even you should be able to figure out what the test will be like…" Shikamaru whined as they arrived at Chouji's place.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

'Why do women get angry so easily anyway?' Shikamaru frowned. "Uh.. well… Anyway, Naruto, Neji and Sasuke are the Examiners… Go figure already!"

Ino gritted her teeth and smacked Shikamaru on his head once. "Explain!!"

Shikamaru stopped himself from groaning. "The last Test is simply a test of how strong the Genins are and what they would do in a situation they do and can not control."

Ino frowned. "So, they have to fight Naruto, Neji and Sasuke?"

Shikamaru tiredly nodded his head. "Yes… Now can you please let go of my hand? We're already at Chouji's."

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"I wouldn't tell you anything, anyway, Ten-Ten. It wouldn't be fair to the others if only your students would know what the test would be like before it started. But I don't know anything, anyway. They're going to tell us what we're supposed to do when we arrive." Neji said as he was walking next to Ten-Ten through the streets.

"Ah, I see. That's a shame… I wanted to prepare my students a bit better…" Ten-Ten shrugged and looked at Neji. "Ne, Neji-kun?"

Neji frowned.

"What are you going for? ANBU? Jounin?"

"I don't know. Via the Jounin Exam you can become Jounin, and even if you fail, but have excelled in some parts, you can become ANBU Captain… I think I want to be Jounin. The higher-ranked missions suit me better." Neji said. "How about you? You're already Jounin. What are your goals now?"

Ten-Ten hesitated. "Well. I think I want to make my students as powerful and smart as possible. And maybe I'll become an Elite-Jounin after all of my students have become Chuunin. Other than that… I want a whole other life, Neji. I live alone, close to where Lee now lives. I see women walking with their children… I guess my goal is… to have what they have…"

Neji frowned. "What about being a Shinobi?"

"It is true that it is hard to be a mother and a Shinobi at the same time, but I'll just have to manage. I look at my students every day and realize that I really do want to have children…" Ten-Ten sighed dreamily.

Neji smiled and closed his eyes, resuming his walk next to Ten-Ten. "Well, that also means you'll have to find someone to share your entire life with."

Ten-Ten sighed again, this time a bit more troubling. "I know, I know. I'm looking!"

Neji laughed shortly. "Surely, it won't be hard for you to find a partner, would it?"

"Says you!"

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"Naruto-kun!!"

Jumping high through the air, Naruto wondered who it could be who was yelling his name. He had good ears and a good nose and knew every smell of everyone who knew him. It was a girl who called him, but he smelled more women down there. It could be Sakura, Ino, Ten-Ten and Hinata… But he also smelled other women, older ones like Kurenai, Anko, Shizune and Tsunade. Man, it was crowded down there. Naruto landed on a roof nearby and waited to be called again.

"Naruto-kun!!"

There it was. He immediately turned his head to see Ino and Hinata stare at him from the ground. He easily jumped down and landed in front of them. "Good morning, Hinata-chan, Ino-chan!" He greeted with a wide grin. "Pretty crowded in there, huh?" He said as he looked inside the big stadium where he had his two Chuunin Exams.

"Naruto-kun, we were wondering… what will this test be like?" Hinata asked.

Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head. "Actually, I don't know… I'm a bit late, too. I was supposed to be here an hour ago, I bet Neji and Sasuke are already in there. Once there, we would receive orders, so I don't know. Sorry."

Ino frowned. "Shikamaru told me you were to fight the Genins and test their abilities."

"That much I knew!" Naruto responded. "But I don't know how exactly."

Ino shook her head while Hinata smiled. "I think you have to fight a Genin and let him or her go all out against you. If you're defeated, they automatically pass."

Ino snorted. "Hmm, Naruto has become too strong… Perhaps one scratch would do…"

Naruto nervously chuckled. "Uhh, perhaps! Honestly, I don't think they have to scratch or defeat me…. I think, like in the very first test Kakashi-sensei gave me… teamwork is the ticket to the Chuunin-title!"

Hinata shook her head with a blush, being a bit afraid to question Naruto. "N-no, I think they have to show everything they have against you. It's not sure whether you have to fight more Genins than only one."

Naruto grinned. "Ne, you're right, Hinata-chan!"

"Really, Naruto, you should hold back everything you have, otherwise you might accidentally kill them or something." Ino warned.

Hinata strangely nodded her agreement. "Y-yes, your Chakra Control is still not… not perfect."

Naruto sighed. "I know, I know. I keep practicing but it just won't work out!" He whined.

"I can help you out!" Hinata AND Ino suddenly yelled, before they looked at each other with a puzzled look. They were both proud to be able to help somebody.

Naruto smiled. "Really?! You two would help me?! That's great!!"

"We've had Chakra Control practices all our life! If anyone can teach you it, it'd be us, right Hinata?" Ino said, almost yelling.

"Right!" Hinata said, with a bright smile.

Naruto laughed. "Wow, thanks!! Uhmm, so when?"

"Tomorrow!" Hinata yelled, making Ino flinch, who stood next to her. Hiding her enthusiasm just a little bit, she continued whispering. "We don't have any missions tomorrow… and neither do you, Naruto-kun."

"How do you know I don't have any missions tomorrow, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked with a puzzled look.

"Well… Hokage-sama told me everyone would have a day off after the Chuunin Exam…"

Naruto smiled in return. "I see! It's perfect then!"

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"You're late, idiot." Sasuke said as he stared at the approaching Naruto.

"I know! But I promised Konohamaru to visit him before it started!" Naruto yelled back in a defensive tone.

Neji stepped up to Naruto. "We were here on time, Naruto. WE… are ordered to take on Genin teams. It'll be three on one. We are to only defend for the first five minutes of the battle. They have five minutes to prove they can become Chuunin by showing everyone how they attack us. After those five minutes, we attack. If they have not proven their worth in the first five minutes, they can still prove it by defending themselves correctly against our attacks. Understood?"

"Yeah!!" Naruto yelled with a grin. "This is fun!!"

"There are nine Genin teams. Three are from the Leaf, two are from the Mist, one from Sand, one from Stone, one from Grass and one from Rain." Neji continued. "Sasuke deals with one Leaf team, one Mist team and the Stone Team. I deal with one Leaf team, the Grass team and the Sand team. You, Naruto, deal with one Leaf Team, one Mist Team and the Rain team. Understand?"

"Yep, yep!" Naruto said with a huge grin plastered on his face. "So, which opponents do I have?"

Neji shrugged. "The only opponent I know you have is Hyuga Hanabi, Naruto. I don't know the others."

Naruto pouted. "I thought we would get at least SOME information about who we have to test?!"

Sasuke snorted. "It's better this way, idiot. At least they have ONE advantage against us then, though that advantage probably won't last very long against us. If you get hit by a Genin… you should feel VERY ashamed…"

Naruto frowned. "Hey! I was pretty strong when I was a Genin!!"

"You weren't strong as a Genin. You were dead-last, remember?" Sasuke stated with a smirk.

"Hey!! As a Genin I did defeat Haku together with you! And I defeated Neji and Gaara too, while you got the crap beaten out of you by Gaara! So SHUT the HELL up!!"

Neji frowned and sighed. 'True… even as a Genin, Naruto was already strong…'

Sasuke was glaring. "Gaara did not beat the crap out of me."

Naruto chuckled. "Maybe, but only because I saved your sorry ass!! Otherwise he would have!"

"Shut up! Remember the time Rock Lee knocked you out with one little kick?" Sasuke growled.

Neji laughed. "Lee knocked you out? With only ONE kick?" Neji stopped laughing as he noticed Naruto's glare.

Naruto turned back to Sasuke. "Shut up!! Lee beat you up that time, too!"

Neji sighed as their useless bantering continued. 'How annoying… And these two want to take the Jounin Exam?'

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And then, the announcement of the start of the Final Test rang throughout the entire arena. Naruto, Neji and Sasuke slowly walked towards the fighting area and met up with Shikamaru and Shino.

Looking around, scanning the crowd, the judges, everyone, Naruto and the others noticed that most of the older Jounins were also present. Kakashi, Gai, Asuma and Kurenai. Jiraiya and Tsunade. Lee and Ten-Ten were also there, of course.

Shikamaru spoke up, but said the first sentence in a whisper. "This is just too troublesome. Ok, listen up!! From the Leaf: Udon, Kensu and Enola Mohe. From the Mist: Danta Koy, Oraki Itsu and Amuwi. From the Stone: Uroku Taki, Ashitaku and Mingen Gokaku. I want all nine of you step up! The others can wait in the waiting area! You nine Genins will be facing Uchiha Sasuke."

Shikamaru looked at the nine Genins before him and watched the other Genins walk towards the waiting room. "Ok, it's one team versus Uchiha Sasuke! The team from the Leaf is first!"

A twelve year old Udon adjusted his glasses and closed his dark-grey jacket. Kensu snorted as his spiky light brown hair swayed around because of the wind. Enola's curly long hair did the same.

Sasuke sighed. 'These Genins look anything but dangerous.'

Shikamaru spoke up again. "Stone Team, Mist Team, walk towards them." He said, pointing at Neji, Naruto and Shino. Shikamaru waited and as soon as the battle field was empty he yelled again. "Begin!!"

Sasuke didn't bother to activate his Sharingan as he could easily follow the Genin's movements as they jumped all around him. Sasuke calmly strolled away from the spot he was standing on. As he was a safe distance away from that certain spot, he looked at it with a boring look, before a huge explosion came through the ground. 'As if I couldn't sense Chakra being build under me… Foolish Genin…'

Sasuke stepped backwards to allow Kensu to soar past him. It was obvious the boy was trying to hit him with simple TaiJutsu. Sasuke disappeared from view as another explosion came close to hitting him. As Sasuke reappeared, he easily jumped to the side to see Enola jump right into the wall.

"Is this all you Genins can do? All this time I had my hands in my pocket. I might as well close my eyes." Sasuke taunted.

Enola's eyes turned yellow. "Arrogant prick!"

Sasuke looked intrigued. "Bloodline Limit? You are… cat-like?"

Though Enola's speed was a lot higher now, she was still nowhere compared to Sasuke. She missed Sasuke as she jumped for him. Sasuke grinned. 'So… The Inuzuka Clan is more dog-like, while the clan she is from is more cat-like. How interesting… I didn't even know of this Mohe Clan.'

Sasuke paused as he sensed Chakra all around him, though underneath him. 'It's that Udon who can move underground in high pace… He has almost put this entire place full of explosives, though only underground… But his explosions can't even scratch me… And I can always walk on the walls…'

Sasuke turned to see Kensu and Enola stand next to each other, while they were facing him. "So… now what?"

Kensu disappeared from view and Enola expanded her nails by a lot. Sasuke grinned. "Truly a cat you are…" Sasuke paused. 'And that Kensu… his speed is close to Lee's when he was a Genin…'

Sasuke easily dodged all of the Shurikens and Kunais Kensu threw at him as he was running circles around him. 'And he throws all of them with exact precision too.'

On the sidelines, Shikamaru grinned. 'Ten-Ten taught him that…'

Sasuke jumped over Enola's outstretched claws as she leaped towards him. As Sasuke landed, he disappeared and Shikamaru did the same. Because Udon was done…

The crowd was bedazzled as they saw the entire arena lighten up because of all of the explosions. Enola and Kensu were in the middle of it, but ran towards the walls to walk on them until the explosions were over.

A short minute later, the three Genins, Sasuke and Shikamaru were on the battlefield again. "So what was the use of those explosions? To impress the crowd? Because that's only thing those things did." Sasuke stated.

"Actually… My special ability, is to control an explosion. After an explosive exploded… I can control the remains of it and… make it explode again with my Chakra…" Udon explained. "This time, you'll be hit, because you're in the arena again…"

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he used his highest speed to get away. The explosions that came were indeed close to hitting him, but the Genins had underestimated his speed… But it was a really close call.

"Wha?" Udon uttered. "But… I thought we were fighting Chuunins! This guy's speed is as high, or even higher than that of a Jounin!"

Sasuke grinned as he stood on the walls and activated his Sharingan. 'Yes… the boy, Udon, has put his Chakra on most of the remains of the explosions in the entire area… That's quite impressive, but he's running low on Chakra already… Even so, the explosions aren't that big.' Sasuke though and deactivated his Sharingan again.

Sasuke looked to his left and right to see Enola and Kensu approaching. Sasuke disappeared in the same speed Kensu was moving and saw that Enola, in that cat-like state was also fast enough to follow his movements. 'Still… when I was a Genin I could have easily beaten all three of these guys.'

Sasuke allowed Kensu to come closer, and then sent a rain of fire towards him. 'Five minutes are up… it's my turn…'

Kensu barely avoided Sasuke's fire attack, but Enola, who was behind Kensu, was fully caught in it and she screamed in pain. Sasuke jumped down in the arena in front of Udon. Udon immediately made the air in front of him explode, but sensed that Sasuke was already behind him. Udon continued to make the air around him explode, until he ran out of Chakra, which was after twenty seconds. Sasuke jumped back to see Kensu land a powerful blow in the ground where he just stood.

"You're the only one left, it seems. Let's see how you'll handle my TaiJutsu…"

Kensu's eyes widened at Sasuke's speed. He managed to follow his movements, but that was because Sasuke wasn't moving at his fastest at all. So Kensu was able to dodge a few attacks, before Sasuke hit him fully in his stomach. Kensu fell on his knees and put his right hand on his stomach while he blocked an incoming kick with his left wrist. He quickly rolled backwards to avoid getting hit by Sasuke's feet.

Kensu performed a few hand seals. "Soushouryu!!"

In the crowd, Ten-Ten felt proud as she saw her own student using her own technique.

Sasuke was unfamiliar with the attack, but soon figured it out as Shurikens and Kunais came flying at them from above. Sasuke simply disappeared at the last moment and appeared behind Kensu. "Nice try, but" Sasuke was caught off as all of the weapons came flying at him again. 'Strings?'

Of course, he dodged easily again and this time, he appeared in front of Kensu and knocked him out with one tap in his neck. "It was interesting, but all three of you failed in hitting me even once."

Shikamaru waited for the medical nins to pick up the three Leaf Genins. Then he spoke up. "Ok, Mist Team, step up!!" Shikamaru turned to Sasuke. "Oy, you want a soldier pill?"

Sasuke frowned before he snorted. "Of course not!"

Shikamaru frowned back, before he faced the three Mist Genins. "Oy, start already…"

The Mist Genin nodded their heads and took on a fighting stance, right then, the entire arena was enshrouded in mist. Sasuke smirked, still not activating his Sharingan. 'Mist Genins… This mist is just getting lame…'

Sasuke easily jumped sideways, back and forth and kept jumping, avoiding every attack the Mist Genins threw at him. "Is this all you can do? Creating mist so your opponent can't see you? And then using only these simple attacks?" He called out.

His answer was three snorts, on which Sasuke smirked. He noticed that the ground became slippery and he himself was wet because of the mist too.

"We can turn water to Ice also, Chuunin!" One Mist Genin yelled out.

Sasuke had to admit this was a little interesting. These Genins were planning to freeze him in using the water of the mist. Sasuke performed a few hand seals and as he was about to perform the Jutsu, Shikamaru called out. "No Jutsus in the first five minutes, Sasuke."

Sasuke smiled. This made a little more interesting. How was he supposed to stop this freezing process? Sasuke shook his head and disappeared, reappearing on the sidewalls, still dripping wet. 'As I thought, they can only control the mist inside the mist they created.' Sasuke took a look at himself and shook himself a bit dry. 

The cloud of mist expanded, until it covered the entire battlefield. Neji, Naruto and Shino didn't seem to bother, while Shikamaru shuddered in annoyance. Sasuke smirked. 'Idiots. They're wasting their Chakra this way.'

Three words… 'Five minutes are up.'

Sasuke performed the same hand seals he did before and yelled. "Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!!" And he made the fire dance around the entire arena, evaporating the mist. The Mist Genins were now totally revealed. "Show me how you defend yourselves now."

Sasuke leaped forward towards the Genins and attacked with simple and to him, slow TaiJutsu. Kunai got blocked by Kunai, kicks got blocked by elbows and punches were avoided. After a short minute of him versus three Genins, he took it up a notch and kicked one Genin hard in the abdomen, sending him flying. Instead of facing the other two, Sasuke followed the flying Genin in the air and knocked him hard towards the ground.

Before he could land a knee on the Genin, the other two interfered with simple shoulder bashes. Sasuke simply used his hands to knock them both away, but he didn't land on the remaining Genin. Sasuke waited for the two other Genins to attack him again, since the Genin before his feet was already out cold.

Sasuke calmly activated his Chidori, but wasn't planning on attacking them with it. "So what do you do now? Now that you see your opponent with a powerful Jutsu and I could kill your friend here easily?" Sasuke grinned at the Genins' hesitation.

He frowned as they both disappeared, but Sasuke easily sensed them around him. He aimed his Chidori at the unconscious Genin. "Come."

Sasuke suddenly sensed more presences around him. "Bunshins? And a lot too…"

And then he saw the mist around him take form. "Oboro Bunshin no Jutsu."

Sasuke grinned, deactivated his Chidori and performed a new set of seals. "Jishin no Jutsu!"

The ground beneath him trembled and Sasuke smirked as he forced the two Genins who were hiding underground to rise above again. Doing this, he also made all of the Oboro Bunshins disappear.

The Mist Genins took on a fighting stance as soon as they regained their composures. Sasuke jumped away as he sensed that the other Genin woke up. 'About time, too… I didn't hit him THAT hard… So what will they do now?'

All of the Mist Genins performed the same seal and suddenly, all three of them turned into mist. Sasuke grinned. 'That's Genjutsu…' He sighed as he was tempted to use his Sharingan… after a second of hesitating, he finally did. "Sharingan! Ah, they're in front of me, after all…"

With the Sharingan activated, Sasuke could see the puzzled expressions on the Mist Genins' faces. Sasuke performed a few hand seals. "Katon, Housenka!!"

The Mist Genins scattered quickly to avoid getting hit.

"Ten minutes are up! Mist Genins, leave the area!" Shikamaru paused. "Stone Team, step up!"

Sasuke gazed at the three Stone Genins. From the looks of it, they were stronger as the Mist Genins, since they were looking confident. 'Such confidence needs to be punished…'

As Shikamaru motioned for the Genins to begin, Sasuke grinned at the speed of the Stone Genins as they spread out around him. 'Hmm, their speed is definitely higher than the others.'

Sasuke frowned as he saw pieces of the wall being ripped off. As he activated his Sharingan he saw those huge pieces were controlled with Chakra.

"Taiyuu Doton Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Three Earth Clones made out of mud and stone 'climbed' out of the ground.

Sasuke spotted the last moving Genin as she was performing hand seals. "Iwakaiki!" She paused and performed a single-handed seal. "Sekifu!"

Sasuke looked intrigued for two reasons. First was that he couldn't copy the techniques with his Sharingan and second was what he saw. The girl's left arm changed into a sharp blade of stone and it seemed… flexible too. Her right arm had turned into a stone axe, also flexible. 'This must be a Bloodline Limit Technique… That blade and that Axe… there's something strange about them…'

Sasuke couldn't think about it any longer as stones were flying all around the area, trying to hit him. On top of that, the Earth Clones attacked him with simple mud attacks, while the Genins all attacked individually. 'This is true teamwork… They are no rookie Genins…'

Sasuke somersaulted away, hitting one of the Genins in the face accidentally. Shikamaru glared at Sasuke. He was not allowed to touch the Genins in the first five minutes. Sasuke was allowed to defend himself, however, and so he managed to take every hovering stone around him down with small elementary attacks.

Sasuke focused on the girl who now rushed at him. She slashed at Sasuke, but she missed horribly. 'Hmm, those seem to be dangerous weapons, but she still needs to train with them more… it also seems they drains Chakra fast…'

"Heh… You can't be a Chuunin… You're stronger than our Teacher!" The girl suddenly yelled. "This test isn't about us being able to beat you together, is it?"

Sasuke looked slightly puzzled by her comments. "Just attack. In real battle there's hardly any time to talk." Sasuke looked pleased as the other Stone Genins came rushing at him. 'Those weapons of her… they seem to give her information on her opponents when she comes close enough…' Sasuke thought as he easily parried the Stone Genins' attacks away.

Sasuke jumped up to avoid getting surrounded by three Earth Clones. He harshly landed on one of them so that it would disappear. He dodged the other clones' attacks by quickly jumping backwards.

"Uchiha Sasuke, Sharingan user. You have a Curse Seal too…" Uroku Taki suddenly said out loud. "Ashitaku! Mingen! Throw all of your attacks at him at once! Then I'll attack after that!!"

Ashitaku nodded and performed hand seals. "Doton, Housenka!!"

Mingen, the other boy, did the same at the same time, only another technique. "Ishi Seikaku!"

Sasuke easily avoided the mud blobs Ashitaku threw at him and also all of the stones Mingen threw at him. To the crowd, it even seemed as if Sasuke was dancing around all of the attacks.

"Hmph! Show-off…" Naruto muttered from the sidelines as he heard the crowd gasp.

Uroku smiled and rushed toward the 'dancing' Sasuke. Sasuke also easily dodged Uroku's stone blade and stone axe, but noticed something really strange… His Chakra… it was being drained…

Sasuke leaped backwards.

"I see that you're confused… I know we won't be able to even scratch you… but it satisfies me to see you surprised. Have you ever heard of the Samehameda? It got stolen from our Village many years ago. It originates from my Clan… Though I myself can drain Chakra as soon as I activate these two weapons…" She said, motioning two her left and right arm. "The Blade drains Chakra while the Axe provides information."

Sasuke smiled. "Very interesting. But the first five minutes are up now. You wasted it by talking too much. Now it is my turn to attack."

"I forfeit. I have no intention of fighting a battle I am destined to lose." She let out, surprising everyone. She walked away, with her team mates following her.

Sasuke grinned as he watched her walk away. 'Interesting Genin… But she forfeited because she almost had no Chakra left… This was her way of keeping her dignity… How foolish.'

"Uchiha Sasuke, you've done your part, you can leave the arena." Shikamaru stepped up next to Sasuke. "Hyuga Neji, step up!!"

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TBC

Soo… Next chapter you will see Neji and Naruto take on 'their' Genins…  After that, it's the 'Day-off'!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Also, please join the forums on my site!!


	6. Earned Respect

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Author's Note: Battles, battles and battles… Hope you enjoy! There are a few new techniques in this one,. Most can be found in the Jutsu List of the previous Book. Some are explained as best as I can, if you still don't understand, please tell me!!

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Review Reply Corner:

**Mizu no Yami**: Thanks and yeah, you're right, Four words instead of three, silly me --'… Thnx for reviewing!!

**Kirin**** Kage the Shadow Girl**: Wow, thanks! Here's the next update, thanks for the review!

**Night-Owl123**: Alright, here's the update!! Many thanks for reviewing!

**Ino Pig**: Update faster? :(… Some authors take much longer to update, though… Then again, I'm no fast updater either… Well, this chapter has nothing but battles, hope you enjoy and thnx for the review!

**OneAznDragon**: I know, I know… Four words, Three words… I was just being stupid (again), Well, here's the next chapter, thnx for reviewing!!

**Kawaii**** Yoshi**: The Genins in this one will have a few.. farfetched techniques… Hope you like them! Thanks for reviewing!!

**Sirus183**: Ok, ok, here's a next update! Hope you enjoy the chapter! I'll try and update faster, but I don't think I'll be able to manage that :(, Neway, thanks for reviewing!

**Ookami**-**kun**: Ah, thanks!! Naruto fights in this chapter! I hope you like it! Thanks for reviewing!

**Max** **Knight**: Many thanks for liking it! Yep, yep, it's supposed to be Four Words… shrug Thnx for dropping a review!

**SaLLy11**: Hmm, I don't think someone like Neji would pull off new techniques against Genins… Nonetheless, it is a possibility. I hope you enjoy and thanks for the review!

**Gopu**: Many thanks!!

**Curlsofserenity**: Yeah, he learned those dodging 'dancing' moves from Kimimaro… Thanks for reviewing!

**Trickmaster**: I know, I know, I'll correct it as soon as I find myself to be less lazy… Thanks for the review!

**Lady** **Light**: Heh, it's really difficult to decide on pairings… Right now I'm just letting everyone get closer to each other… Thanks for reviewing!!

**Per**: Ah, thanks!! Really!! Here's the update!! Hope you enjoy the chapter! Many thanks for the review!

**Dark** **Phoenix**: Yes, very very true! I meant the Samehada, I was being stupid again. I don't know if it's originally from the Mist, but I made it so that Kisame had stolen the sword from Earth Country, Stone Village. So, clarified? Or not? Just ask me again and I'll try to explain better… I'll try:P, thanks for reviewing!

**EmptySanity**: Whoa, thanks a lot! I'm glad you like the way I write the battles! Here's the next chapter, thanks for dropping a review!

**Perverted**-**senin**: No, Day-off not for me, but for the Leaf Shinobis. But you mentioned Elite Writer?! Where?! scratches head Thanks for reviewing!

**Monaki**-**cheung**: Ok, ok!! Here's the next lil update! I hope you enjoy! Thnx for the review!

**EfrainMan**: Heh, thanks! Nuthing about pairings to say :P? Err, neway, thanks for the review!

**Aznboiblk**: Heh, here's the update! Hope you like this one too! Thanks for reviewing!

**Madpostman**: Hmm, Hinata always liked Naruto, so why not allow her to get to know him better? Don't know about Ino yet, though… Thanks for dropping a review!

**Narsuke**: My writing is not that good, I repeat many words, because I'm not really that good at English. Anyway, thanks for explaining your name and for the review!!

**FlareOfDragon**: I bet you saw a baby shooting a machine gun. Making up techniques isn't that hard, just think of something that's be pretty cool, look up the Japanese name for it and voila! Well, many thanks for the review!!

**Shadow**/**Phantomness**: Well, here's the Neji fight for you!! I hope you like! And thanks for liking it! Thnx for reviewing!

**Haze**: Ah, thanks! I'm glad you like it!! Here's the next chapter!! Thanks for the review!

**YoukoSesshomaru's** **True Love**: Gee, thanks!!

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This was very entertaining to watch, even to him. He disliked a lot of things and being a referee in a tournament like this was one of those things. But he had to admit now, that it was pretty 'cool' to watch the strongest Shinobis of Leaf Village take on the stronger Genins of the Shinobi Villages. Uchiha Sasuke was not even panting as he just let three Genin Teams give them their all against him. Sasuke could perhaps even take on the Hokage, Shikamaru figured.

Watching Hyuga Neji step forward and enter the area where he was also standing, he was sure Neji was just as strong as Sasuke, if not stronger. A lot has changed in the last years. The two prodigies, Neji and Sasuke had become that which everyone had expected, two very strong Shinobis. No one expected that the dead-last of the Ninja Academy actually became one of the strongest Shinobis of ALL Villages, surpassing even the prodigies of Leaf Village, said to be the strongest Shinobi Village.

Indeed, Uzumaki Naruto had become even stronger than the Leaf's Hokage. With his secrets revealed, the younger generations respected the blonde Shinobi a lot more. Even Shikamaru had to admit that the blonde boy had a very harsh childhood or for that matter a very harsh life.

"Leaf Shinobis: Aoba Ruin, Moegi and Konohamaru! Come down here!!" Shikamaru half-yelled. 'Yelling is too troublesome…' Shikamaru walked away to let Shino referee this match.

**There Where When is Now, Book 3**

Chapter 6: Earned Respect

Hyuga Neji stared at his opponents. 'I think I have the weakest Konoha Genins… Then again, all of them are weak…'

"Begin match." Shino said.

Hyuga Neji smiled as he saw Konohamaru disappear from his view. Neji had decided not to use his Byakugan unless it was VERY necessarily. He suddenly noticed a change of the wind and a peculiar smell. He glanced sideways to see Naruto yawn. 'Heh, Naruto's nose is extra sensitive and it seems this girl has created a gust of powder which makes the opponent sleep… But it's made out of Chakra… And things that are made of Chakra can be destroyed by pouring Chakra in it. It seems that brat Konohamaru has become a specialist in concealing himself. I have yet to see that other kid do something.'

Moegi frowned as she noticed her Sleep Attack wasn't working on Neji. Konohamaru was roaming around the area and she herself didn't know where he was. She looked at Aoba, who was simply staring at Neji, not doing anything.

"Are you going to attack?" Neji asked.

Moegi performed a few hand seals. "Doku no Jutsu!!"

Neji smiled and easily avoided the slow moving cloud of poison. Suddenly, he was surrounded by twenty Konohamarus. 'Kage Bunshin? Naruto must have taught him this one… I wonder why Naruto was late, too…'

"You will succumb to my new technique!!" All the Konohamarus yelled.

Neji snorted. "Come!"

All of the Shadow Clones did one hand seal. Moegi looked on interested and so did Aoba Ruin. "Harem no Jutsu!!"

Neji's eyes widened at the scene. After a full second of surprise, he snorted. "I've seen this technique so many times before. It doesn't work on me." Neji said. 'Not anymore, anyway.' He added as an afterthought.

"Oh yeah?!" all of the naked girls Konohamaru had transformed in yelled. "Harem ChiChi no Jutsu!!"

Neji's widened again. 'Na-Naruto… This is why you were late…'

Moegi's eyes were widened as well as she witnessed Konohamaru's new technique. Aoba turned his back to the scene, hiding something. Naruto was rolling on the floor laughing and Sasuke was shaking his head in embarrassment. All around Neji were naked women, with very, VERY big boobs…

Tsunade was watching the battles as well and shook her head. 'What an awful technique… Konoha is destined to always have perverts… There's nothing I, the Hokage, can do about it…'

Neji, out of frustration, feeling some blood in his nose, quickly executed the Heavenly Spin. "Kaiten!"

Afterwards, he couldn't see Konohamaru anywhere. 'That brat can hide himself well… I can only find him if I activate my Byakugan…'Aoba was nowhere to be seen either. 'However, I can sense where the kid Aoba is…'Moegi was performing hand seals. "Sakuran no Jutsu!!"

Neji was getting bored by the girl's weak attacks and dodged it easily. Suddenly, Aoba appeared in front of him and moved around to perform a roundhouse kick. Neji blocked, but as soon as Ruin's foot connected, Ruin dissolved into water, washing all over Neji. Neji grunted in annoyance as he heard Kunais coming from all around him. 'That Aoba kid… he knows how to fight properly, at least. Unlike SOME Shinobis I know…'

Neji disappeared from view, So all of the Kunais were embedded in the ground. Moegi looked around to try and see where Neji had gone too. Aoba landed next to her.

Neji appeared to their left and immediately heard a familiar technique. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!!"

Neji frowned. 'That's a pretty high-levelled technique…' He looked at the approaching Shurikens and smiled. 'Ah, I see… Konohamaru doesn't have the ability to really make this attack dangerous…' He thought as he saw about ten Shurikens come at him. 'He could only create ten from one… That's pathetic…' Neji thought before he disappeared.

Neji appeared in front of Aoba and Moegi and smirked. "First Five minutes are up…" He said. 'Hmm, still, I can't attack them too hard…'

Aoba performed many hand seals and yelled out. "Suiton, Suiryuudan no Jutsu!!"

Neji's eyes widened. 'But that's a Jounin Level Skill! And there's no water around here!!' He thought, but what came confirmed his thoughts. No Genin should be able to perform Strong Water Techniques with no water around. The Water Dragon coming his way, was slightly bigger than Neji's own head. Neji hit the water with his fist, pouring Chakra into the attack, ultimately cancelling it out. 'Ah… he has a bottle with water in it on his back, too…'

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Konohamaru suddenly yelled out.

Neji was now surrounded by about ten Shadow Clones. Neji smirked as he prepared to perform the Heavenly Spin. "Kaiten!!" He whipped out every Shadow Clone.

Neji quickly jumped away to avoid getting hit by a Poison Attack from the girl, Moegi. 'They should be out of Chakra soon…'

As he landed, Neji performed a huge Heavenly Spin, knocking all three Genins to the ground. "Shino, it is over."

Shino nodded. "Yes…" Shino watched as medics came running down, checking to see if the three Konoha Genins were alright. They were, but were unable to continue. 'These Genins didn't show any real insight…' Shino shrugged, before he took a look at the remaining Genin Teams. "Grass Team, it is your turn!"

As expected, one girl and two boys, a brown-haired boy, a black-haired boy and a black-haired girl, jumped down and landed in front of Neji. Neji analyzed all three of them immediately. 'The girl is sure of herself, the boys seem to be as well, though one of them is… jumpy.'

"Begin." Shino said.

The brown-haired boy performed a few hand seals and disappeared. From above, Neji heard him yell "Hakaze Atemi!!"

Just as he was about to dodge, Neji saw that the girl was also performing seals. "Hatsuiku Karamiau!!"

Neji vanished, avoiding the tree branches the girl was trying to use to entangle him and dodging the hardened leafs the brown-haired boy threw at him at the same time. As Neji re-appeared, he sensed the other boy behind him. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu, Gunyou Dokuchou!"

Neji looked slightly impressed. 'A Genin doing a Summoning…'

Though it was no huge summoning, it was still pretty hard to do for a Genin. The boy had called forth a flock of butterflies, poisonous ones, too, Neji noted. 'These Genins are pretty good.'

Neji jumped backwards as he performed "Chakra Chuubu!!", halting the movements of the butterflies. Neji turned to see the girl and boy run at him, both performing techniques.

"Hakaze Atemi!!" The boy yelled out. Neji easily saw every hardened leaf and dodged them.

"Doton, Doku Dango!" A huge ball of… what seemed like grass, mixed with poison, came flying at Neji's face. Neji jumped over the ball and let it hit the still paralyzed flock of butterflies, killing most of them. 'Interesting technique…'

Neji landed again and was forced to jump away because of the brown-haired boy's attack. Another Hardened Leaf Attack. Neji was getting bored at this little game and disappeared.

The girl and the two boys looked around them, trying to see where he was. Neji appeared several feet away from them. "Come."

The black-haired boy sent his remaining butterflies all around the area, so Neji would be surrounded. The girl put both her hands in the ground and smirked, while the brown-haired boy performed hand seals. "Doku, Kokyuuhou!!"

The boy inhaled deeply and then exhaled a huge blast of poisonous breath. Neji's eyes widened. 'That poison will cover the entire area… I have to…'

"Fuchi Chuubu!!" Neji yelled, performing the Kaiten and the Chakra Chuubu at the same time. This way, everything around him got paralyzed, because he poured Chakra in everything and he knocked everything away from him using the Heavenly Spin. 'Surprising to see a Genin have a devastating attack like that…'

The three Genins eyes were widened. It seemed the first part of this attack of theirs failed. Neji grinned, before he jumped up as a huge hand of leaves and tree branches came crashing through the ground, ready to grab him. Neji performed "Kaiten!" in the air as he jumped to destroy a few approaching butterflies. 'These Genins fight well…'

Neji landed on the ground and folded his arms. "Time is up; it's my turn to attack…"

On the sidelines, Hanabi frowned, not understanding what Neji was doing as he was moving his hands awkwardly. She immediately activated her Byakugan. What she saw interested her greatly. Neji was forming Chakra strings with his fingers and let the strings rest on the ground, before he let them lash out at one of the Genins, pressing the Opening Points.

Hanabi was more than impressed. 'He created a distance 64-Opening Points Attack!'

The brown-haired boy was out for the count and he took all of his butterflies with him as he fell to the ground. The remaining two rushed at him in their highest speed. Neji grinned as he saw the same attacks again. "It's useless doing the same thing over and over again!!"

The girl and boy both jumped up. Neji sighed as the ground rumbled. Suddenly, about four hands made out of tree branches, leafs and even bushes came through the ground, ready to squash Neji. Neji shook his head. "Fuchi Chuubu!!" Again, Neji performed the Kaiten and the Chakra Chuubu at the same time, knocking the four huge hands away.

Neji looked up to see that the brown-haired boy had already sent many hardened leaves his way. Neji disappeared and reappeared behind the boy in mid-air and then hit him in the back Gentle-Fist Style. The boy fell to the ground.

Now the girl and Neji were left as they slowly approached the ground again. As they landed, the girl fell on her knees, indicating she was more than exhausted.

"It is over…" Shino said as he walked over to Neji. Medics came rushing towards the arena and carried the three Grass Genins away. "Next up, Sand Team!!"

Neji watched as all three Sand Genins let the wind take them down to the arena. "Commence!" Shino stated.

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"We succeeded in our mission, Kazekage-sama!" Temari reported as she and Kankurou stood in front of Baki and bowed.

"Good." Baki paused. "Temari, Kankurou. Someone you two know is about to join your forces."

Behind Temari and Kankurou, the door opened. "Ah, come in Gaara." Baki said, before he turned to Temari and Kankurou. "Gaara is hereby your… team mate in your Hunter-nin Team. Temari is to remain the Captain."

Temari and Kankurou nodded, knowing Baki had more to say. "Temari, here."

Temari caught the scroll Baki threw at her.

"That scroll contains the names of all missing-nins from our Village. I want you to clear that entire list. Right now, this team is the best team the Sand has." Baki said. 'Especially with Gaara in it…'

"Understood, Kazekage-sama!" Both Kankurou and Temari said as they bowed. Gaara looked at them and then at Baki.

"Hai… Kazekage… sama…" But he didn't bother to bow… Baki didn't seem to mind.

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Neji was facing a young woman with blonde hair that reached just below her shoulders. A young man who wore too large glasses and had long brown hair and another young man who had grey, spiky hair.

'Definitely the oldest Genin Team here…' Neji thought as he was measuring the team's strength. 'They should be stronger than most Genins too.'

Shino nodded his head. "Begin the match."

All three of the Sand Shinobi performed hand seals. Neji observed with an amused expression. 'These guys seem to be more serious.'

"Fuujin no Mai!" The female yelled.

Neji activated his Byakugan and easily dodged the Slicing Wind Blasts.

"Gufuu no Jutsu!!" The man with the glasses performed.

'Let's see how my normal Heavenly Spin is against this…' Neji smiled. "Kaiten!!"

The small tornado smashed against the spinning Neji and they seemed to struggle for power, until Neji's Kaiten cancelled the Tornado out. As Neji stopped spinning he saw that the third had finished his hand seals.

"Minishimiru!!"

Neji's eyes widened as he saw what the grey-haired man was preparing. 'Amazing! For a Genin, anyway… I can test my Kaunta-Kaiten's capability!' Neji thought enthusiastically.

The massive piercing wind blast that covered the entire area offered no escape for Neji. 'So if the first attack was not enough, the second would. And if the second wasn't enough, the third would be?' Neji snorted as the Piercing Wind Blast approached him. "Kaunta-Kaiten!!"

The three Sand Genins gaped at the power Hyuga Neji displayed as he was actually countering their best attack. They grew very nervous as they saw that the massive Wind Attack was being pushed back… towards them.

"Hyuga Neji… the first five minutes are not up yet."

Inside the struggle, Neji suddenly yelled out. "How much longer then?"

"One minute…" Was the reply Shino gave.

Within the countering swirl, Neji smirked. 'They've not really proven their worth in this battle, but I have already started the Kaunta-Kaiten… Cancelling it would result in me getting hit by the Wind Blast… and I will not allow a Genin to hit me. So, I'll just have to hang on for a minute. Perfect for testing my Stamina, anyway.'

The three Sand Genins looked at each other, their looks asking each other what to do. All three of them shrugged and decided to just wait for the struggle between their attack and Neji's defense to stop.

On the sidelines, Sasuke shook his head. "Neji and his defenses… It's impossible even for most Jounins that get past his defenses…"

"Heh, unless you throw in a really hard attack!" Naruto yelled.

"I wouldn't bother… My Shadow Bind would stop his movements anyway…" Shikamaru said. "But then again… He's a Hyuga, thus specialized with Chakra. In my Shadow Bind there's Chakra… he can move Chakra out of his opening points and pour Chakra in my Shadow, ultimately cancelling it out, too. Hyugas are too much of a pain to fight."

"You talk a lot for someone who whines all the time!" Naruto responded. "Anyway, I didn't get what you just said, anyway."

Shikamaru frowned and looked over at Sasuke.

"I… I wasn't really listening." Sasuke said as he looked at the spinning Neji in the middle of the arena.

Shikamaru groaned. 'I take my time to open my mouth once and this is what I get in return… I knew it was too troublesome…'

Back on the battlefield, Neji's grin grew. 'The last minute is up…' Using more of his power, but not all, he was able to counter the Sand Genin's Attack and threw it back at them, which meant no escape for them…

Until the Sand Genin performed the same attack again. "Minishimiru!!"

And the two attacks cancelled each other out. Neji watched as the grey-haired man fell to the ground, as he was out of Chakra. Neji grinned. 'I thought so… As a Genin, he shouldn't have enough Chakra to perform two attacks like that, but he did. He's out now, though.' Neji faced the two remaining Sand Genins.

The young woman threw many wind Blasts at him, but Neji had his Byakugan on, so he wasn't about to get hit by any of them. The other young man decided to go for Sand techniques and was slowly lifting up huge hardened balls of sand with his Chakra. "Suna Kyanonbo!!"

But even those were easily avoided by Neji. 'I remember this attack… The puppet-user once threw this one at me…' He thought with a grin. "Alright… Kaiten!!"

Neji's Heavenly Spin covered most of the area…

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'Such power… and he's still growing…' Hyuga Hiashi thought as he observed Neji. He was seated in the middle of the crowd, waiting for Hanabi's match. 'Hanabi is up against Uzumaki Naruto… I hope that boy knows how to handle the power he has…'

-

"They've grown to be great Shinobis, don't you think, Kakashi?" Gai asked as the two eternal rivals sat next to each other. "It's odd to see that our own students have surpassed us by this much…"

Kakashi nodded. "Sasuke… The boy has become a good young man. I'm proud of him. He was able to get out of Orochimaru's grasp and return. And Naruto has escaped from Itachi's grasp, from Akatsuki's grasp. My students are great… Even Sakura will be a great Jounin…"

"Ha! And once again I am in the lead, Kakashi! Two of my old students are already Jounin, while… NONE of your students have reached that rank yet." Gai boasted.

"Ah? But do you think your students can beat mine, Gai?" Kakashi returned.

"I think Ten-Ten can beat your Sakura. I don't know if Neji can beat Sasuke, but Sasuke won't beat Neji easily either. The only one who will be real difficult to beat is Naruto… Even if we combine our strengths, Kakashi… That boy…"

"Indeed… He's the strongest Shinobi of the Leaf…" Kakashi finished.

-

"Nhh… I think my students were great! They've given their all! They did give Sasuke a hard time, I think." Ten-Ten said as she was between Lee and Sakura.

"Hmm, I think Sasuke held back almost everything he got! He was going WAY too easy on them! But he did look cool doing it, didn't he?" Sakura responded.

'Sakura-san, always rooting for Sasuke-kun…' Lee pouted slightly, before he smiled again. "Now it's my Team's turn!! I taught them a lot of things! Although they'll probably won't beat Naruto, they sure will give him a hard time! My students will definitely become Chuunin!"

"Well, your team does have a Hyuga in it… And those other kids, their names sounded familiar, too." Sakura replied.

Ten-Ten and Sakura zoned out as Lee began to tell his long story of missions he had with his students…

-

"So far, who do you will become Chuunin, Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked as he stood next to the seated Tsunade.

"So far… I'm not impressed at all, Jiraiya. I'll keep it at that." Tsunade answered.

"You're getting stricter by the years… You like being Hokage, huh?" Jiraiya said with a grin.

Tsunade frowned at him, before she turned back to the arena. "It's Naruto's turn now… I hope he doesn't accidentally kill those Genins… His Chakra Control since the Akatsuki War…"

"is awfully bad, I know…" Jiraiya finished.

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'Uzumaki Naruto… I remember him… He was the one who was able to re-open his Opening Points after a 64-Opening Points Attack. Rumours are that he had also beaten the Legendary Demon, the Kyuubi and helped save Konoha from devastation in the last war… I think we have the strongest of those Chuunins against us… But I also remember that he got beaten up badly when he fought Neji, before he reopened his Opening Points.' Hanabi thought as she observed the three Chuunins, along with the two referees. 'If we manage one hit, we'll be the only Genins who actually hit their opponent.'

"Say, Hanabi-san? What do you think of our opponent?" Toji asked.

"I think we might be able to at least hit him once…" Hanabi responded.

Ujin snorted. "Yeah right… Our opponent is Uzumaki Naruto… My father told me he's a real one tough guy and my father doesn't call many people 'tough', let alone 'real tough', so I think we'll get slaughtered…"

Hanabi snorted. "We'll try anyway, Ujin!"

Toji grinned. "Great! We've seen the other Genin rookies, but they're nowhere near our skill! We'll show them how good we really are!"

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"So… If you get hit now, you'll be considered the weakest of us all… Getting hit by a Genin won't be pretty for your reputation…" Sasuke said with a smirk as he looked at Naruto.

Naruto snorted. "Bah! Like I'd get hit! Even a Jounin would have a hard time trying to hit me!"

Neji smirked. "Only because you tend to use your Clones too much…"

Shino frowned as he returned. Shikamaru sighed and stepped back into the arena. 'Naruto against Genins… I bet I'll have a hard time refereeing this one… How troublesome…'

"Hyuga Hanabi, Morino Ujin and Gekkou Toji… All familiar names, I think these are the best Konoha Genins…" Neji pondered.

"I've seen them fight together… Their teamwork is better than ours back when we were Genins." Sasuke commented and smirked. "Heh, Naruto, A Hyuga will see through Clones…"

Naruto frowned. "Huh! But not through Shadow Clones and Advanced Clones."

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Naruto slowly walked towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru had already yelled that the Konoha Genin Team should come down to the arena. Most people were curious to see how well the Hyuga Genin fought.

Naruto grinned as he carefully glanced at a tree in the far corner of the arena. In the tree, the real Naruto grinned back at his Advanced Clone… before he transformed into one of the tree branches, so Hyuga Hanabi wouldn't notice with her Byakugan. He had hid himself in the tree before this Test had begun, moving in very high speed so no one would notice.

Sasuke and Neji both knew, though. Some people in the crowd also knew. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi and Hiashi knew.

"Begin!"

Hanabi immediately activated her Byakugan to analyze and measure Naruto's strength and ability. Toji gripped both of his swords anxiously and Ujin had his staff with sharp ends pointed towards Naruto, daring him to approach.

Naruto yawned with closed eyes.

Hanabi narrowed her eyes. "Ok, this guy has no weaknesses whatsoever… Prepare yourselves for a difficult battle…"

Naruto opened his eyes to see Toji run at him with both swords outstretched. Naruto didn't move whatsoever as he was quickly approaching. 'Damn it! No reaction at all!' Toji thought.

Just as he was about to hit Naruto, Naruto moved backwards in a very high speed. Toji gulped nervously as Naruto was twenty feet away from him in less than a second. He turned around and looked at Ujin and Hanabi.

Hanabi and Ujin both rushed forward and as soon as they caught up with Toji, the three of them were all running at Naruto, before they disappeared.

Naruto looked around and didn't look really surprised to see Hanabi above him, descending towards him. To his left, he saw three Toji's performing the "Mikazuki no Mai!!" and Ujin was approaching Naruto on the other side, swinging his staff around wildly.

And in less than a second, all three of them collided with each other. Toji managed to hold back his swords and Ujin had dropped his staff to the ground, while Hanabi simply stopped her own Gentle-Fist Attack. Naruto had apparently disappeared and left a lot of smoke behind.

'Kage Bunshin?' Hanabi thought. 'No, usually a Shadow Clone doesn't leave this much smoke behind… And we didn't manage to hit it either.'

"Oy, would you get off?" Ujin mumbled. Both Hanabi and Toji hopped off. Hanabi immediately noticed a tree branch falling from a tree, before it transformed into Naruto, who was laughing his ass off...

Hanabi was more than enraged. "Hurry up!! It won't be long before he starts attacking!" She yelled at Toji and Ujin, who both nodded immediately.

The real Naruto grinned as he saw the three disappear again. Naruto could easily smell them as they moved in front of him. Shurikens came flying at him as all three of them moved in high speed around him. 'Wow… these Genins can move pretty fast… Lee must be their teacher…'

Suddenly, three Kunais approached him from different sides… 'Crap… These things are attached with Chakra strings… Must be the Hyuga girl…' Naruto wanted to pout, but the Kunais approached him already, so he closed his eyes in anticipation. 'This'll sting a bit…'

Until a red Chakra bounced all three Kunais away. Naruto looked around and was just as surprised as the Genins. "Huh!? What just happened?" He asked to the Genins. The Genins all frowned at Naruto, even Hanabi.

"Must be something new…" Naruto wondered out loud. "So if I don't want to get hit by something… my Chakra automatically tries to reflect everything?" He asked the Genins before him, who all had sweatdrops on the back of their heads.

Hanabi got more enraged, ignored Naruto's question and rushed at him, with Toji and Ujin following her.

Naruto easily dodged all fists and kicks Hanabi was throwing at him. Toji came from above him with both swords outstretched. Naruto moved sideways to dodge. Toji almost hit Hanabi, but landed right before her, with his swords deep in the ground. Naruto ducked, jumped and moved his body a bit, to dodge the sharp staff Ujin was using.

Ujin disappeared and in his place came Hanabi, who was showing a higher speed than before and was really trying her best to hit Naruto, who seemed to be dodging everything just easily. Hanabi got more enraged and performed "Kaiten!!"

But Naruto had noticed and recognised the movements and was long gone. As he reappeared several feet away from the spinning Hanabi, Naruto was forced to duck to avoid one of Toji's swords and somersaulted backwards to dodge the other. Jumping over Toji, Ujin had his Staff fully outstretched towards Naruto as he approached him in mid-air. Naruto slightly turned away so both the staff and Ujin would soar past him. Ujin landed on his feet and turned immediately, only to see Toji in front of him.

"Where'd he go?!" Ujin screamed.

Toji shrugged. "Come one, it's time for our best attack…"

Ujin nodded. "Though I doubt that it will work against this guy… We haven't even hit him once…"

Hanabi was long done spinning and had been observing Ujin and Toji. She then spotted Naruto and ran at him and stopped right in front of him. "You are within the field of my Hakke."

Naruto grinned. "You have no idea how many times I heard that sentence…" Naruto sighed as he said "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Hanabi's eyes widened and so did Toji's and Ujin's… The crowd was mesmerized too… The entire area was filled with Naruto Shadow Clones… All Naruto's scratched the back of their heads in embarrassment. "Oops, looks like we overdid it a little…"

Hanabi was at loss for words… She couldn't move without hitting at least six Clones, she concluded… 'What… the hell…'

Toji and Ujin began slashing around with their weapons. All Naruto's around the duo jumped out of the way. 'Damn, these things even have a higher speed than us… it'd be more than impossible for us to be able to beat this guy…'

"Ah, don't worry! Five minutes are up already, but I'll let you attack for another… uhmm.. minute!" The Narutos yelled, before the real Naruto made all Shadow Clones disappear, except for the ones around Hanabi.

"Hanabi!! Time for our real attack!!" Toji yelled as he and Ujin came running.

Naruto watched as Hanabi used the Heavenly Spin instead of the 64-Opening Points Attack. The Shadow Clones jumped backwards to avoid getting hit by the Kaiten, but Naruto made them disappear anyway. Then, Hanabi performed "Chakra Chuubu!" and sent a cloud of paralyzing Chakra towards Naruto. Morino Ujin was performing hand seals and Toji yelled "Mikazuki no Mai!!"

Naruto dodged the cloud of Chakra by moving faster than he had before, simply sidestepping so he could easily roll under Toji's Mikazuki no Mai and then heard Ujin yell. "Shinjutsu, Keiketsu no Jutsu!!"

Naruto's eyes turned curious as he saw hundreds of acupuncture needles coming at him, some directed straight at acupuncture points, but only Neji noticed, Naruto didn't. 'Time to test this new defense of mine… It's the same as my Kyoubou no Tate, but now it's… a bit automatic… When I don't want to get hurt, it's activated… it seems…'

Naruto gulped nervously as the needles approached. They were all around him, so there was no escape. 'Please make this work, or else I'll be the first to get hit by a Genin!'

As the needles were about to hit Naruto, they were all blown away by Naruto's red Chakra. Naruto chuckled as he watched the three annoyed Genins. "Heh, now it's my turn to attack."

"One question, why is your Chakra red?" Hanabi suddenly asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Because I preferred red over blue." And then, Naruto slightly crouched and disappeared.

Hanabi had difficulty following him even with her Byakugan. But she could also see Naruto was not going at his fastest, since she saw a big grin on his face…

"Hey… Where is he?" Toji asked, before Naruto appeared in front of him and kicked him on the side, knocking Toji away. Ujin reacted immediately by knocking his staff down through Naruto… If Naruto was still there, it would have hurt… a bit. Ujin looked around and saw Naruto stand several feet away from them. The next thing Ujin saw was Naruto's boot up close.

Toji groaned as he had difficulty standing up. "Ugh…" And then he saw Ujin flying past him.

Hanabi tried hand-to-hand combat again as she approached Naruto. Naruto easily dodged Hanabi's attacks, but this time Naruto attacked too and Hanabi was slowly getting beaten. She quickly performed Kaiten, but Naruto jumped backwards exactly as Toji wanted to attack from behind. Toji met Hanabi's Heavenly Spin and got knocked out.

Naruto landed and dodged Ujin's staff, until he caught the staff in his hand and ripped it out of Ujin's grasp. "Nice staff… How good are you without it?"

Ujin quickly performed a few hand seals. "Shinjutsu, Keiraku!"

Naruto felt the ground underneath him trembling and immediately jumped up to see many acupuncture needles get shot out from under him. Naruto decided to test his defense again and it worked again. While in mid-air, Naruto sensed Hanabi approach from behind, so he lazily stretched his right foot backwards and it directly met Hanabi's face, who didn't expect it at all and got knocked to the ground again.

"You're both panting… I have to say, you three are pretty good! You've already given your all and if that's not good enough to become Chuunin, you'll just have to train and work harder." Naruto laughed, before he vanished and knocked both Genins out.

Shikamaru walked up to Naruto. "Really, Naruto… You took too long… Though you did allow them to probably exceed their own limits in this battle… Oh well, it's too bothersome to think about it. Next team, step up!"

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TBC

I'm thinking that I'll just skip that battle description of Naruto's next two fights… I'm hesitating. I wanted to finish it in this one, but I think you'd find it boring. So please tell me, should I add the other two fights of Naruto here or just leave it out? Then again, it is kinda necessarily, I mean, to see if the last two teams deserve to be Chuunin or not.

Shinjutsu, btw, means Acupuncture, so Morino Ujin was using Acupuncture Techniques. Keiketsu means Acupuncture points and Keiraku means acupuncture pressure. Well, want me to explain more? If so, please tell me!

Errr, anyway, thanks for reading!


	7. What Chakra Control?

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

Author's Note: From now on, I've decided to make Naruto a LOT smarter... but ONLY in battle :P… He's usually goofing around when he's not worrying about anything. 5400 words! That should be enough! Though I'm sure FFN would make the word count smaller… Anyway, I hope you like!

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Review Reply Corner:

**One Azn Dragon**: I know, I know. Hehe, you're a big Hentai, man! Hmm, the action will come later, hehe, hope you'll continue reading, Chris! And thanks for reviewing!

**EmptySanity**! Oh! I love you too! Er… neway, yeah, Shikamaru is a cool kind a guy! I'm glad you like the way I write action! Thanks for reviewing!

**Night**-**Owl123**: Alright! Uhmm, kinda late, huh? I hope you'll still read it! Thanks for reviewing!

**Kirin** **Kage** **The** **Shadow** **Girl**: Ah, thank you! I'm glad you like it! Here's he next chappy!

**Mizu** **no** **Yami**: :D, heh, thanks!!

**CurlsofSerenity**: Perhaps, maybe I'll let them have a conversation soon… soon… Anyway, thanks for the review!!

**RK-LuVa**: Gaara will show up in the Jounin Exam and I'll describe a few missions of him every now and then. There will be pairings, but I'm letting every character know every other character first, to see how they could interact with each other. Ja, thanks for the review!

**SaLLy11**: Heh, thanks! I'm glad you liked the Naruto fight! I added them the others too! Hope you enjoy and thanks for reviewing!

**Sirus183**: Heh, well, I tend to start getting lazy every now and then. Well, I added them! Thanks for the review!

**Zsych**: I know, I know. Neji tends to not show off his best abilities, but I made it like this because I wanted Neji to let Hanabi know what possibilities there are with the Hyuga Bloodline. And as for Naruto's fight… well, let's just say that I wanted to introduce his absolute defense this way. He knew he could activate it on his own, but now he knows it can also act automatic. I hope you can forgive me for it :(. Hmmm, a crossover is really not something I have experience with. I think I'd find it even difficult. But for the TWWIN Books that are left to write out I already have plots. Thanks for the long review!!!

**Kashisenshey**: Hmmm, neh, I don't want Naruto to be a fan of 'Come Come Paradise!', so he'll just act his normal, and goofy way, I think. Thanks for the review!

**Angel007**: Heh, Wow, I'm glad you like the Harem ChiChi no Jutsu! Anyway, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!

**Blaboy**: Alright, I added them! I hope you enjoy this chapter too! Thanks for reviewing!

**RuByMoOn17**: Ok! So I added them! I hope you'll like this too! Many thanks for the review!

**TyRooNe**: Whoa, damn, 900 words?! That's a darn shame!! I feel for you, the same thing happened to me once. I had typed out 4000 words, but my dad shut the computer off when I was grabbing a drink… But damn, thank you very much! The techniques are sometimes literally translated and sometimes I mix several translations and make one word out of it sometimes too. Well, my writing style needs polishing, cause I can't really do the Description writing-part that well… But I'm glad you like it! I'll try to meet up with your expectations with this chapter, and I hope I'll succeed… So, many thanks for the review and the praise!

**EfrainMan**: Yep, action is important too and pairings will come, eventually, don't worry! I still need to figure out a few characters… Thanks for reviewing!

**Dark** **Phoenix**: Heh, I named it Samehameda, because it reminded me of the Kamehameha… Stupid, huh? Anyway, I added the other fights in to! I hope you enjoy and thanks for the review!

**FlareOfDragon**: Indeed, I also pictured a few humorous things… Well, Naruto will master that huge amount of Chakra of his someday … Heh, thanks for reviewing!

**Trickmaster**: Ah, I'm glad you still like it! Here's the next chapter! I hope you like!

**Shadow**/**phantomness**: Yeah, me too! Neji is developing new defenses all the time! Thanks for the review!

**Gopu**: Thanks!

**Salsar** **Thiran**: Yeah, I agree, so I added the two fights. Hope you like them! Thanks for the review!

**:D**: Yeah, that's just Shikamaru's luck . Here's the next update, hope you enjoy! Thanks for the review!

**Black** **Myst**: Indeed, Morino Ujin is also specialized in a few torture techniques, hence the Acupuncture Techniques! Thanks for liking the story and for the review!

**Lemmings12**: Oh well, I added the two fight anyway, just to see him goof off a bit . I hope you like those fights! Hmmm, this chapter doesn't really have a LOT of action, but it's an update! I hope you enjoy!

**DocDragon**: I agree! Naruto's big bad power blasts everyone! Err.. anyway, Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! And thanks for reviewing!

**Ookami**-**kun**: Alright, I added them in! Here's the next chappy! Thanks for reviewing!

**Stoictimer**: Hmmm, well, Naruto is always goofing off… Perhaps ! Uhmm, here's the next chapter! Thanks for reviewing!!

**Seeker**: Sorry….. I added them in…. But thanks for reviewing!!

**Dark** **Phanton**: Heh, I'll make sure I'll try to do so. Thanks for reading my works! Here's the lil next chappy! Thanks for reviewing!

**Hobbitfan2**: Whoa, you're printing them all? That's a lot of work… I'm glad you like my fanfiction!! Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy!!

**ANBUninja562**: You read them 2 TIMES over!! Whoa, you read a lot then! Pairings are still undecided , sorry! Thanks for reviewing!!

**Baramunk**-**san**: Oh, for the Sasuke-thingie… I have a solution and let's just say that for ONCE, Sasuke has proven to be a genius considering developing the Mangekyou Sharingan. Thnx for the review!!

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Naruto was smiling widely as he watched the three Konoha Genins being carried away and the three Mist Genins arrive in front of him. This was entertaining him greatly. He knew Hyuga Hanabi was some sort of little niece of Neji, a relative anyway and he wasn't surprised that Hanabi was the strongest of her team. But it was surprising to see that the other two members of her team were close to her skill. Naruto remembered hearing Iruka once say that Genin Teams were made by balancing the power of every Genin available, but these guys, Morino Ujin and Gekkou Toji, were strong too.

Looking in front of him, Naruto noticed that the Mist had two girls and one guy, instead of one girl and to two guys. It was a little surprising to see two girls, instead of two boys, but Naruto didn't really care.

'Mist Genins… Let's see them try to catch me off guard…'

**There Where When is Now**

Chapter 7: What Chakra Control?

Naruto folded his arms and watch lazily out of his eyes as he saw all three Mist Genins perform the same hand seals. 'Hmmm, these are no rookie Genins… I can see that their teamwork is good…'

"Houyo Touhou no Jutsu!!"

Naruto, and even Neji and Sasuke were surprised of the technique. Sasuke grumbled about not having his Sharingan on, while Neji smirked at him. If they weren't surprised about the fact that the three Mist Genins were completely synchronized with each other, they would be surprised to see that all three of them had materialized themselves into… mist, thick mist. And Naruto was in the middle of it.

"Confused? Don't be mistaken, this is no Genjutsu!" The voice of the guy was clearly heard throughout the mist and even in the entire area.

Naruto wondered what the Mist Genins were up to. 'They turned themselves into mist and are now surrounding me… So they are going to attack any time now…' Naruto had to smirk. 'My senses are top-notch! I won't be fooled!'

Suddenly, Naruto saw a fist in front of his face and it was quickly approaching him. Naruto had already sensed it before it appeared and dodged easily. 'Strange! That was only a fist, without a body! So they can move around in this mist… or… no, they ARE the mist! Interesting Jutsu!'

"We are this mist! You won't be able to dodge attacks you can't see all the time!" A girl yelled out, confirming Naruto's thoughts. "Eventually we will hit you!"

Naruto chuckled. "You think you can hit me with this cheap trick!?" Naruto lazily performed a few seals… and in the crowd, Sharingan eyes were watching…

Neji and Sasuke swallowed nervously as they knew what Naruto was going to perform. Being as strong as they are, they could easily see through the mist. The crowd, however, was having a boring time…

Neji and Sasuke braced themselves, afraid that Naruto might accidentally kill the Genins with his Jutsu, even though he was probably performing it with as little Chakra as possible. For Naruto, a little Chakra was still damn much… But a voice suddenly called out.

"No Jutsus the first five minutes, Naruto!" Shikamaru said with a lazy and bored voice.

Naruto groaned and easily dodged three feet next to each other and five fists that came after that.

"Man, that was close, I'm sure Naruto would've hurt the Genins bad, if not killed them, if he had used his 'small' version of the Gufuu no Jutsu…" Neji said, while Sasuke agreed with a nod.

"Sanjuu Rendan!!"

Naruto smirked as he sensed all three Genins around him, ready to perform a combo together. As expected, the mist grew less thicker, and all three of them were 'partly' appearing around him and were kicking and punching at him…. BEFORE Naruto disappeared and reappeared behind the male Mist Genin.

"That went… only slightly… wrong…" Naruto said with a big grin.

All three Mist Genins looked shocked, before they disappeared again and the mist got thicker again. Naruto sighed and yawned, showing definite signs of being bored. Sure, these Genins were good for Genins and quite possible among the stronger Genin teams here, but they weren't really impressing Naruto.

"Kiri Shuriken!!"

'How original.' Naruto thought, before he easily dodged the sudden appearance of dozens of Shurikens. 'So they can attack and even use the mist to form Shurikens…'

"Kai!!" All three Mist Genins suddenly shouted.

The tallest girl, a brown-haired one spoke up. "You seem to be too strong for our combination technique…" She turned from Naruto to her team mates. "Let's try something else…"

Naruto slightly turned and looked at Shikamaru, but kept his guard up just to be sure. "Oy, those five minutes up already?"

"Yeah." Came the bored reply.

Naruto grinned as he saw the three Mist Genins disappear. 'It doesn't matter, I can smell you… And even if I couldn't, you'd still have no chance to hit me…' Naruto seemed to think for a moment. 'Mist Genins… So they are vulnerable to Fire Techniques probably… Perhaps if I…'

The Three Mist Genins were circling around Naruto in high speed and all were exactly five meters away from him. Naruto suddenly grinned as he did a few hand seals. "Ensho no Jutsu!!"

Everyone… Really EVERYONE felt the technique Naruto had just performed. The Fifth Hokage immediately rose from her seat as she also felt the effect. Every person from the Mist in the entire stadium had already fainted. The weaker persons in the crowd had also fainted. Naruto's opponents, the three Mist Genins had also fainted.

It seems that Naruto's Heat Wave affected the entire arena…

"Uzumaki Naruto!! Cancel that Technique NOW!!!" Tsunade yelled out and Naruto would answer 'yes' if someone would ask if it could be heard even outside Konoha…

Naruto gulped nervously and cancelled the Ensho no Jutsu. He looked around him and saw that the three Mist Genins were out cold and Shikamaru inhaling and exhaling a quicker than usual rate. "You're so troublesome, Naruto… What a vicious attack…"

Naruto looked up to where the Kages were seated as Tsunade began to yell again. "The Technique the Chuunin had just performed is known as the Heat Wave! A little Water on their foreheads will wake the ones who fainted up, because the technique has been cancelled!"

Naruto sighed in shame. He had caused many people to faint… 'Man… I really need my Chakra Control back...'

"You're lucky the last Genin Team you're going to fight didn't faint, Naruto." Shikamaru said as he motioned for the Rain Genin Team to enter the area. They hesitated and talked to each other, before they started walking towards him and Naruto. Shikamaru smirked. 'They're afraid of Naruto… They saw that he was capable of accidentally affecting even the crowd and they were probably consulting with each other whether to forfeit or to battle.'

"Alright, begin!" Shikamaru said as soon as the Mist Genins were out of the battle field. The Mist Genins and others from the Mist were most affected by Naruto's Heat Wave… A little water won't help them…

Naruto analyzed his opponents. A short blonde-haired, small boy, a tall slightly tanned girl and a somewhat 'built' and tall boy with short black hair. All of them had a really weird outfit, Naruto noted. Purple, with Umbrella's on the back. Naruto shrugged and saw the tall boy perform a few hand seals.

"Jinrai no Jutsu!!"

Shortly after that, the other boy, the short one, continued. "Hekireki!!"

And the girl simply disappeared. Naruto smirked. 'The girl probably is more specialized in TaiJutsu…'

And then, he heard the tall boy yell and Naruto could hear a loud Thunder Clap come from his left side, so he looked. What happened then was too close for comfort… The other, shorter boy sent a Lightning Bolt at him from his right, while Naruto was focused on the left, because of the Thunder Clap. Naruto barely dodged. 'That was close… So the Thunder Clap distracts me… and then the other boy fires off a Bolt of his, a Lightning Bolt that moves pretty fast too… The girl is behind me…'

Another Thunder Clap followed, and then Naruto dodged the Lightning Bolt and then disappeared because the girl was close to hitting him in the face with a simply punch. Naruto appeared behind the taller boy, but didn't do anything.

Naruto jumped away as the boy moved aside and the girl came rushing at him again. Naruto moved backwards in the same as the girl was moving forward. SO the girl had no chance of ever reaching Naruto. Therefore, the other boys stepped in. Many Thunder Claps followed and many Lightning Bolts came from unexpected angles, all aimed at Naruto.

But Naruto didn't seem to bother, as he was easily dodging both the attacks and the Jutsus. 'So the girl knows only TaiJutsu, the tall boy's techniques are meant to distract me and the small boy attacks me. Nice Teamwork!'

Suddenly, the girl before him stopped advancing towards him and performed hand seals. 'So the girl knows Jutsus too?'

"Kouhyou no Jutsu!"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as wind seemed to come out of the girl's palms and along with that hard wind, hail was present. Naruto leaped over the small, but vicious hailstorm and over the girl, avoiding being hit by the attack. Once in the air, he heard another Thunder Clap and managed to twist his body to dodge another quick Lightning Bolt.

As Naruto landed, many Lightning Bolts came at him. 'Can he only use that technique?'

Naruto heard the girl's hailstorm turning, so the girl was turning towards him again. Naruto jumped away from many lightning bolts and the hailstorm. 'Still, this is pretty impressive…'

It was impressive, and probably good enough for Genins. But for Naruto, it was annoying that they kept repeating the same attacks. This went on for more than five minutes even. As Naruto started attacking back, using mostly small, Genin-levelled attacks, which, with his Chakra, turned a lot higher than normal Chuunin Level, the Genins kept attacking back. It was surprising that they did, to Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji and even Sasuke.

But the fight didn't last long. Naruto simply didn't want to use too many techniques anymore, afraid that he might 'accidentally' overdo it again. So he waited for the Genins to run out of Chakra. Naruto was perfectly fine, not even a speck of dust was on him.

"Heh! You guys were pathetic!!" Naruto yelled at the Genins.

"Naruto! Don't insult the Genins like that…" Shikamaru, albeit lazily, warned.

Naruto snorted before he walked towards Neji, Sasuke and Shino.

"Alright! This Chuunin Exam is over! Your fights will be discussed over night, so to all Genins: report here at THIS EXACT time tomorrow! If you're late and you did get promoted to Chuunin, you simply won't be Chuunin because you're too late! Tardiness isn't allowed!" Shikamaru warned.

Naruto and Sasuke looked up in the crowd and looked at Hatake Kakashi. "If that same rule had been applied back when HE was taking the Chuunin Exam he never would've passed." Sasuke said, while Naruto laughed.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was grinning. He had managed to copy a few of Naruto's techniques. And also, as he was watching, a few of the Genins techniques, even though he knew some, or most of them, already.

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The horrible smell of old men lingered through the town, old, drunk and sweaty men. Temari was ticked off because of it and Kankurou had decided not to speak to her right now. Gaara didn't seem to notice as he was busy trying to sense more powerful people around. They had heard that one of the missing-nins on their list was in this Village. It was an unknown Village, where no Shinobis lived. Not even business city, but from the looks of it, this seemed to be more like a bar-city.

It was night and they were at an advantage at night. It was a lot easier to sneak around a village this way. They hadn't killed even ONE missing-nin form the sand yet and Gaara was getting more than just bored.

"I sensed a Chakra higher than any of the others here in the Village up north." Gaara whispered.

'Gaara has become so powerful now… He can sense everything! It's good that he is with us now. I don't really have to be afraid of getting killed now…' Temari nodded and smiled. "Ok, let's head up there, then!"

"Judging from the Chakra being emanated… Only Kankurou's Karasu will be more than enough." Gaara whispered as they silently jumped from tree branch to roof through the Village.

Kankurou snorted. "Karasu has become a lot stronger through the years, Gaara." Behind Kankurou, Karasu, one of Kankurou's dolls, was following them silently. Kankurou really has become a Chakra specialist and has become a true Puppet Master.

Temari smiled. "Well, every missing-nin is on that list. So even Missing-nins of Genin Level…"

Gaara frowned at that. "That's… not really exciting…" Gaara frowned even more. 'Damn that Baki… He told me I would have interesting Missions.'

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Knocking. It's always that damn sound of knocking at the door that woke all of them up. It was funny to know that all three of them woke up at the sound, since all three were sleeping in different rooms.

Naruto was trying to back to his sleep again, until he heard a much louder knock. He lazily sniffed his nose. 'Neji is standing in front of my room… and… Ino and Hinata, I think… are in the living room…' Naruto remembered why they were there but didn't move to wake up yet. 'Did they have to come so early?'

"Naruto, you lazy moron!! Get up already!! It's horrible enough that I was forced to get out of bed after that damn Ino knocked for a full ten minutes!!" Neji yelled.

"Hey, I heard that!" Naruto heard Ino yelling from the living room.

"I don't care!! Naruto, hurry the hell up!!" Neji growled through the door.

Naruto groaned. 'Man, I always knew Neji was not a morning person… But someone forces him to wake up, he really is unlike he usually is…' Naruto rose from the ground, brushed his teeth lightning fast and put on some clothes.

Just as he was about to go for the door, Neji rammed it open. "Damn you, Naru..! Oh! You're awake! It's about damn time!"

"Jeez… You don't have to yell…" Naruto whined as he walked passed Neji into the living room.

"I don't have to yell?! I slept for less then three hours because of you!"

Naruto ignored Neji, since Neji would soon return to his bed anyway. Instead, he focused on the girls in front of him. "Good morning!"

Ino glared and Hinata seemed to shoot a slightly disapproving gaze. "Damn your laziness, Naruto!" Ino screeched. "Neji even yelled at us for waking him up! Man, is he always like that in the morning?"

Naruto nodded. "Heh, yeah… Uhmm, next time we train together, could we train a little later?"

Ino glared, while Hinata slightly blushed. "S-So, we will train again after this?" She asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Hey, why not?"

"Let's just go already, you idiot!" Ino said, while opening the door. "Oh, and by the way, I like your hair this way, Naruto." She ended with an evil grin, while Hinata genuinely smiled at Naruto.

Naruto sighed. He knew how his hair looked in the morning and knew it was awful, but frankly, he didn't really care.

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The Hokage and Mizukage were seated opposite each other in the Hokage's office, which was a lot bigger than before the Akatsuki War. A huge, round table was in it. Around the Hokage and Mizukage were some of the finest Leaf and Mist Jounins. From the Leaf there was Kakashi, Shikamaru, Gai and Genma.

They were, obviously, discussing the Chuunin Exam.

Choices had already been made and the Jounins in the office were to head for the Jounin Instructors of the Genin Teams and tell them whether their students had become Chuunin or not.

The First Genin Team that fought consisted of Enola Mohe, Kensu and Udon, Leaf Genins. Enola Mohe was too easily provoked and angered by Sasuke. Kensu and Udon had the same faults, which were just to blindly attack and hope for victory.

The Second Genin Team consisted of Koy Danta, Itsu Oraki and Amuwi, Mist Genins. All they had done was show everyone teamwork. Sure, teamwork was very important, most important even, during an important battle and especially in war. But it was not all about Teamwork. They had failed miserably when it came to showing true confidence in their own abilities, repeating the same attack over and over again. But they DID protect each other when they knew there was no way they could stop Sasuke.

The Third Genin Team consisted of Uroku Taki, Ashitaku and Mingen, Stone Genins. A very Impressive Genin Team, but the two males depend too much on the girl Uroku. Uroku, who had a nice Bloodline Limit. It seemed the girl gave too easily because of the information her Bloodline Limit gave her. They had fought well, but gave up after five minutes…

The Fourth Genin Team consisted of Konohamaru, Moegi and Aoba Ruin, Leaf Genins. Moegi showed some techniques that were really hard to learn, Konohamaru even used Shadow Clones the Kage Shuriken and Aoba Ruin also performed a Jounin-level Technique. This Team was also a bit promising, but lacked real teamwork, as they all individually attacked Neji.

The Fifth Genin Team consisted of Hyouku, Roku Saidin and Fubuki, Grass Genins. Fubuki, the girl and Roku performed pretty high-levelled techniques and Hyouku even performed a summon technique. They also showed excellent teamwork and they continued fighting even when one of their team mates had been knocked out, until they were out of Chakra… Though they were out pretty fast, indicating that their Chakra Stamina wasn't that great…

The Sixth Genin Team consisted of Ritsu Haika, Kozo Otsuki and Ryouji Izuhara, Sand Genins. The oldest Genin Team. It could be seen that they have been together for a long time, since the teamwork was excellent. Kozo Otsuki had given his all to protect his team mates. Ritsu kept throwing attack after attack at Neji and so did Ryouji. But they kept trying, even after the Heavenly Spin had hit them…

The Seventh Genin Team, consistent of Hyuga Hanabi, Gekkou Toji and Morino Ujin, Leaf Genins. Definitely the most talented Leaf Genin Team. Excellent Teamwork and they actually seemed to plan together. They seemed to know of their opponent but they gave their all anyway. Hyuga Hanabi tended to go solo accasionally, but together they actually almost came close to actually… coming near Naruto. But they had no chance of actually hitting him…

The Eighth Genin Team, Keiko Oyama, Yuriko and Akoto Ikuton, Mist Genins. Their teamwork has progressed so far, that they have developed a Jutsu which requires all of them to do the exact same thing. So, their teamwork was perfectly fine. Had it not been for Naruto's Heat Wave, these Genins would probably have proven that they were going to do another team-based attack.

The Last Genin Team consisted of Koro Umoika, Wuuto Baruka and Nikku Saby, Rain Genins. Unlike with the previous team, this Team was given all the space and time. They worked together pretty good, but it appeared that they did not know many Jutsus or attacks, since they kept doing the same thing, even when they realised it was useless against Naruto…

The Hokage and Mizukage had decided who would become Chuunin…

Everyone left the Office after the meeting, except Tsunade, who requested one man to stay.

"Kakashi, we need to talk…"

"Oh? What about, Hokage-sama… If it's about me and Jiraiya not doing our job yesterday, it was because"

Kakashi got interrupted. "I don't care! Stupid perverts… " Tsunade grumbled. "Anyway… now that he's back, I think he should know everything about his past and his Bloodline Limits. You knew his father pretty good so I am ordering you to talk to him."

Kakashi nodded, immediately understanding the Hokage. "Understood, Hokage-sama."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was gaping at what the two girls in front of him were suggesting. Tree Climbing and Walking on Water? That stuff was for kids! Ad hell be damned, he really wasn't a kid anymore! He could do these things easily now! Naruto was surprised however that Ino and Hinata learned the Tree Climbing when they were Chuunin! Which means they learned the walking on water even later! It seems that Kakashi was giving us a better training back in those days after all.

Naruto sighed. "Look, I can do this easily! What else have you got in mind?"

Ino shook her head with a grin. "No, no! Prove it to me that you can do the Tree Climbing, then!"

Naruto groaned and walked up to a tree, casually gathered Chakra to his feet as he was walking and then started walking up on it. A loud crash was heard next as the tree was ripped in two. One half was flying away for a few meters, while the bottom part was still standing. Naruto was on his back on the ground. "Ah, what just happened?"

Ino and Hinata's reply to that came late, as they were both at awe from the sheer power Naruto just showed them.

Naruto jumped on his feet and turned around, watching the gaping girls. "Ano… What's wrong?"

A short minute of gaping, and Naruto's hands waving about, later, Ino and Hinata finally registered that Naruto had a massive amount of very powerful Chakra… "Ok… This might take a little longer than I expected…"

"Normally, when you gather too much Chakra in your feet, you only create a SMALL hole. But in your case, having a lot of Chakra, you destroyed the tree…" Hinata explained.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "But… I did try to gather as little Chakra as possible at my feet…"

Ino and even Hinata sweat dropped at that. 'Then again, considering his Chakra Control back on the Academy…' Ino thought. 'It's possible he doesn't even know how to gather Chakra properly now…'

"Tell you what? You should re-learn the Tree Climbing… We'll observe what you're doing wrong." Ino brought forward.

"But let's do it outside of Leaf Village" Hinata suggested.

Ino laughed. "Yeah, otherwise you'll be destroying every tree here…"

Naruto laughed a little bit, still ashamed that he wasn't able to do the Tree Climbing anymore… "Ahh.. Thanks, you guys!"

"We're girls, you moron!" Ino yelled back.

Naruto pouted.

"Anyway, you fought well yesterday, Naruto." Naruto looked surprised at Ino. Sakura and Ino didn't really call Naruto 'Naruto-kun' anymore, because Naruto fitted much better, as it always did and Naruto didn't really mind. Only Hinata, Ten-Ten and the older Jounins called him 'Naruto-kun.'

"Ah, thanks, Ino-chan!" Still, Naruto kept calling every girl with the-chan at the end.

"The Heat Wave… That is a really effective attack" Hinata began. "For the Jounin Exam, could you…" Hinata paused for a moment. "Teach us a few things?"

Naruto grinned. "Sure!!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke and Neji were sparring on the roof of Naruto's apartment, while they were also talking. They stopped as they sensed someone fast approaching them.

"ANBU… It's Aburame Shino." Neji stated. "He'll arrive in one minute."

"What will he have to say?" Sasuke pondered.

Neji shrugged as he slipped into his fighting stance. "Probably something about the Chuunin Exam…" The he smiled. "He who hits his opponents the most in before Shino arrives, wins!"

Sasuke nodded. "Agreed…"

Both were moving in high speed, circling each other, trying to hit each other and immediately leap backwards, but staying on the roof. Two of the best Bloodline Limits in Konoha up against each other…

The minute was up in no time and Shino appeared on the roof. 'They're training… AGAIN… And this is their day-off… I am free, too, except I have to deliver this one message.'

"Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuga Neji, I assume Uzumaki Naruto is not here?" Shino asked.

Neji and Sasuke both shook their head.

Shino nodded. "Tomorrow morning you two are to report by the Hokage."

"What about Naruto?" Neji asked before he looked at Sasuke.

"He'll have a different kind of mission…"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're hopeless, Naruto!" Ino screamed.

"P-perhaps you should try walking on stronger trees first…" Hinata suggested as she activated her Byakugan. Hinata smiled as she located a fine, thick old tree. "Follow me, Naruto-kun!"

"I don't see how a bigger tree would help… I managed to smash every tree away with just one footstep!"

"Wait! But you managed to walk on other things before, right?! On walls or something?" Hinata suddenly asked.

Naruto nodded. "Y-yeah, actually, I did! On walls, more specifically, the walls of the Hokage Tower, even!" Naruto yelled.

Ino frowned. "You could do it then, but you can't do it now?"

Hinata smiled. "Naruto-kun… You don't have to gather any Chakra at all! You can do it naturally… If you gather Chakra, you make it become more powerful…"

Naruto looked at Hinata, his expression showing that he didn't fully understand.

Naruto suddenly smiled. "Oy, Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing, peeking at us like that?" Naruto suddenly said out loud. 'He's probably looking at Hinata-chan and Ino-chan! That pervert!'

Kakashi appeared next to Naruto. "Naruto, we need to talk…"

Sakura and Ino stared at the grey-haired Jounin before them. "Hey, we're busy training!" Ino yelled.

"Oh, your Chakra Control, right, Naruto?" Kakashi asked. "I think I know the solution. When you're performing Jutsus, you TRY to gather Chakra. In your case, the Chakra you need to perform what you want to perform comes naturally to you. So if you want your attacks to be smaller than usual, think small, but don't gather Chakra. If you do, you'll gather more Chakra than you have already gathered… and then…"

Naruto nodded. "Ah, I understand! Wow, how did you find out, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi grinned. "Hey, they don't call me a genius for nothing, Naruto."

Ino and even Hinata, although less than Ino, glared at Kakashi. "We found that out already, Kakashi!" Ino growled.

"Yes, we found that out before you got here." Hinata added.

Kakashi nodded. "Then you two are very perceptive. Now, Naruto, we need to talk…"

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TBC

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!!

New Techniques:

Houyo Touhou no Jutsu: Literally means: Embrace Us: Multiple Users materialize into mist and surround the enemy.

Sanjuu Rendan: Triple Combo: Three users attack with specialized attacks, while they are also perfectly synchronized.

Kiri Shuriken: Mist Shuriken: After performing the Houyo Touhou no Jutsu, the users can also materialize their own Shurikens into mist and use them to suddenly attack the opponent(s).

Jinrai no Jutsu: Thunder Clap: A loud simple rumble.

Hekireki: Also jeans Thunder Clap: A follow-up of the Jinrai no Jutsu, only this is the Lightning Bolt.

Kouhyou no Jutsu: Hailstorm: Simply a hailstorm. A small hailstorm.


	8. A Past Long Wished For

Naruto Fanfiction  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Not now, not ever.  
  
Author's Notes: Not much romance in this one! Sorry!!! I've decided to stop replying to reviews… The previous time there were 33, I love all of you!! After this chapter I'll pick five, or ten, or more, depending on the amount I have, to reply to. I saw another author do the same thing. I do hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

* * *

This was known as a normal day. She didn't have many and she really didn't exactly know what to do on these days. Staying home was often what she would do on these occasional normal days. She had heard Ino and Hinata were helping Naruto with his Chakra control and she felt somewhat offended that Naruto didn't ask her for help. She was, after all, known for her perfect skill in Chakra Control. Then again, after Naruto had returned to Leaf Village, they weren't really all that close. Sure, she tried to talk to him once in a while, but time has changed him... and her, too.  
  
She still admired Sasuke, probably in a more mature way than before, too. But with Naruto, things have changed dramatically. Where Sasuke had a harsh past, Naruto had an even harsher one. Sasuke saw the dead bodies of his parents and his clan. He also saw the murderer of the entire clan, his brother. Destined to be an avenger. Naruto, on the other hand, never knew his family and for a part of his life he was hated without knowing why. Then, after he knew why he was hated, that hatred hit him even harder and he also realized that he was completely alone. Now, Sakura really respected Naruto...  
  
The changes in Naruto aren't easily noticed on first sight. He was still joking around all the time and he didn't really understand things fast, as usual. But one could see that, when he got serious, he was far more perceptive. But perhaps that had always been a treat of Naruto.  
  
With Sasuke, things had not changed at all! He was still as cold as usual and still had the same responses to every question. It seems that nothing that had happened to him in the past years had an effect on him. One would expect that he would be a lot... darker, which was probably the case BEFORE he came to Konoha. Now that he was here again, he was slowly returning to his 'normal' self, and Sakura couldn't help but notice this all too good...  
  
**There Where When is Now, Book 3**  
Chapter 8: A Past Long Wished For  
  
It has been so long and he wasn't sure if he had remembered everything that was told to him. When his Genin days had just begun, he wasn't ready for the information, it didn't take a genius to figure that out. There was the realization that he was hated, that he was the Kyuubi, that his Chakra Control was awful because of the Kyuubi and that he could use the Kyuubi's Chakra.  
  
On top of that, Kakashi noticed that Naruto had to deal with complicated opponents with terrible pasts as well. So Naruto didn't really have time to cope with his won feelings. But now, so many years later, he was ready for the next part of information of his past. His father and his Bloodline Limit. One thing at a time, though, his mother would come later... and HER Bloodline Limit, too... But Kakashi had analyzed a lot of Naruto and he didn't seem to have any signs of Bloodline Limit activation. Perhaps the Kyuubi had something to do with that… But now that the Kyuubi simply is no more… maybe things would be different.  
  
Naruto's mentors in the past few years didn't know of Naruto's Bloodline Limits, either. If Orochimaru and Itachi had known there probably would have been trouble. Jiraiya hadn't told him either and probably also knew Naruto wasn't ready for it.  
  
Kakashi sighed. It was up to him to do it. He had no idea how to be able to let Naruto activate his own Bloodline Limits. With Sasuke it was easy, since he had experience with it himself. But the only ones who had experience with Naruto's Bloodline Limits are deceased. He himself saw the Fourth fight, but knew the Fourth never really had to go all out against his opponents. But he saw the Fourth use his Bloodline Limit once.  
  
Jiraiya knew more of this and was far more qualified to explain it all to Naruto. But Jiraiya was, as always, out of town and he was also, rather… unreliable. Kakashi sighed again as he and Naruto were still walking and were approaching their old training field, where he trained them when they were Genins.  
  
"So, Naruto-kun..."  
  
Naruto lazily turned his head towards Kakashi as they walked. Kakashi noticed the resemblance between Naruto and the Fourth the first time he saw Naruto and right now, he looked like the Fourth more than ever. 

"We… know a few things of your past, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You mean, besides me being Kyuubi's vessel, right?"

Kakashi nodded and put his left hand on Naruto's shoulder, motioning him to stop walking. Naruto was almost as tall as Kakashi. "This is one of the biggest secrets in Konoha. If secrets had a rank, your past would be very high-ranked. This is important, Naruto-kun, and you can only tell people you trust completely, but don't make any mistakes."

Naruto nodded his understanding. "Alright, Kakashi-sensei. I know I seem to be like the old Naruto, talking or screaming before I think… But, it's just that… I don't know how to act anymore. The entire Village is so different… I am used to being hated and being stared at by all those cold glares. But now…" Naruto paused to sigh. "Now it's all the other way around! They seem to be respecting me! I know I always wanted something like this, but… I don't know…"

Kakashi smiled and put his left hand back in his pocket. "You'll get used to it eventually, Naruto-kun."

Naruto attempted to shrug. "I guess… Back then, I had a reason to be always screaming and pulling pranks. I was so loud because I wanted everyone's attention! Now I have everyone's attention, or almost everyone's, anyway… It's hard to pretend, you know? Everyone knows me as the loudmouth…"

Kakashi sighed. "Putting up a mask to hide the pain… We all do that… Perhaps it's finally the time for you to throw your mask away, Naruto-kun."

"Maybe…" Naruto sighed. "What about you, Kakashi-sensei? What about your mask?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Which mask are you talking about?" He said with a smile. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you, about your father and his Bloodline Limit…"

Naruto's eyes widened.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" He said with a very annoyed voice.

"Gai-sensei wanted us to hang out together!" The reply, however, was giddy.

Neji inwardly groaned the hell out of his throat. "I am on my way to my training field, Lee. Maybe some other time."

Lee pouted loudly. "But! It'll be fun! Me, Ten-Ten and Gai-sensei!"

Neji paused in his step. "What are we going to do, then?"

Lee smiled, but he didn't know what made Neji consider it. "Gai wants to train us!"

"What?!" Neji let out. "I'm stronger than him, Lee. And you, by the way, are also. I'm not sure of Ten-Ten, but Gai can't be much stronger than her. I don't see how I would benefit learning ANYTHING from Gai at this point."

Lee shook his head. "Well, it's not that he'll be teaching us… But more like, he wants to see how strong the three of us have become."

Neji shook his head and sighed. "Can we train AGAINST Gai, too? I want to see how fast I can knock him out…"

Lee laughed unsurely. "Uhmm… I think."

"Good! Then I'll come."

* * *

Mangekyou Sharingan… It was a lot easier to achieve it. Sasuke was more than proud of himself for figuring out another, yet similar way to developing it. He had no real 'precious ones' back in the old days. But throughout the years with Orochimaru, he did acknowledge Naruto as a good friend, and only friend. But he was also his best rival. When he was staring at his reflection in a river close to where he stayed with Orochimaru, Kimimaro, Teri and Hatsu, he tried to recall everything that had happened to him in Konoha. It was a surprise that the Sharingan activated on its own when he was thinking about Team 7. Two commas each eye back then.

But without noticing it, a second later, he was actually daydreaming and at the same time hypnotising himself with the Sharingan in his own reflection. What came to mind was the realization that Naruto, and even Sakura and Kakashi were the closest people to him. He was satisfied in thinking about how he would slaughter them back then. Without realizing it, he was living through it vividly, with the use of his Sharingan he was actually witnessing how he was murdering his so-called 'precious ones', even though he didn't consider them 'precious.'

When he woke up, he was confused and walked back to the camp, where Orochimaru and the others were. The next day, he started training with sparring against Kimimaro, who immediately noticed a difference in Sasuke's eyes. Both of his eyes had three dots… And on top of that, Sasuke could 'feel' the difference. He had done two things at the same time. He mastered the Sharingan AND he developed the Mangekyou…

Right now, he was walking in Konoha, ignoring everyone and everything around him. He was thinking about developing the Amaterasu… He hadn't seen Itachi use it against him, but he was sure Itachi knew it, being the prodigy and genius that he was. It won't take very long before he would also be able to use it…

"Sasuke-kun!!"

Sasuke turned around and saw Ino in front of him. "Ino."

Ino smiled and intently gazed at him and Sasuke was getting annoyed with it. "What?" He uttered.

Ino simply grinned in return. "Well… I've actually been calling for your attention three times already. What are you thinking about so deeply?"

Sasuke frowned at the blonde-haired girl. "It's none of your concern." Then he noticed the sword Ino carried on her back. "Oy… That's the Kusanagi sword… It's Orochimaru's, what are you doing with it?"

Ino looked dumbfounded as she stared at Sasuke and grabbed the sword. She gripped the sword with both her hands and held it out in front of her and Sasuke. "So it's called the Kusanagi? I found it during the Akatsuki War… You're the first one who recognises it."

Sasuke shrugged before he turned away from Ino. "Keep it. Perhaps you'll be able to master it."

"You think so?" Ino asked, making Sasuke slightly annoyed, since now he had to stop walking again.

He turned around to face Ino again. "It'll take time and it isn't that hard. I managed to do it too. Now, I'm needed elsewhere."

Ino smiled. "How about you help me with this sword? Since you've mastered it, too!"

"I managed to do so on my own… You should try the same thing." He finished and walked away.

Ino took a look at the sword before her. It was still too hard to be able to use it with only one hand for her. 'Kusanagi Sword, ey? Perhaps I can win some information about the sword…'

* * *

Coming here wasn't a good idea and it was as he assumed. Gai and Lee were stuck together, as always, indicating that nothing had changed between them. SO he was stuck, also as always, with Ten-Ten. But he didn't really mind. Although he did want to have a try against Gai.

"So, we fight each other while they watch us?" Neji asked as Ten-Ten stood before him. "If it is then it's just stupid. We've trained so many times together already. What'll be the difference?"

Ten-Ten smiled. "The outcome?"

Neji frowned, but smiled as well. "You're confident… I like that."

Ten-Ten smiled back. "Well? Come on! Or are you scared?"

There was a silence for one second, until Neji burst out laughing, which was surprising to everyone. "Alright… You're asking for it, Ten-Ten!"

Ten-Ten smiled as she activated her own Absolute Defense. Neji noticed the change of Chakra around Ten-Ten as he had his Byakugan activated. 'Impressive… She can harden her own Chakra to create a defense around her… But, it drains Chakra fast…'

Ten-Ten didn't have to perform any hand seals for her techniques. For her, it was like throwing normal Kunais and Shurikens, except now it was Chakra she was throwing. Neji dodged the Kunai-shaped Chakra forms as they approached him. 'Hmm, she can also throw the Chakra… That's highly advanced… She's been training a lot…'

'Let's see how she deals with her own attack…' Neji smiled as Ten-Ten repeated her attack. "Kaunta-Kaiten!!"

Ten-Ten's absolute defense deflected all of the Chakra forms that came at her. "Fight me, Neji!!"

Neji frowned. 'I can't go full out against her…'

"Gururi Heiki!!" Ten-Ten yelled.

Neji looked around him and saw hundreds of Kunai-and Shuriken-shaped Chakra forms surround him. 'My Kaunta-Kaiten reflected them, so a normal Heavenly Spin should work too…'

Ten-Ten grinned as she let all of the 'weapons' attack Neji. Neji put himself in the right stance to perform the "Kaiten!!"

Neji gritted his teeth as a few 'weapons slipped past his defense and actually came close to hitting him. He jumped away to avoid getting hit. 'Damn… She made it so my Heavenly Spin would be useless…'

"It is as you think, Neji! I altered the Chakra in my Chakra-weapons so they would 'flow' with your Chakra, which also means your Chakra would allow them to pass… But even with the element of surprise I was unable to hit you… But I'll try again!"

Neji sighed as Ten-Ten repeated her attacks. 'Her attacks and defense are good, but repeating a style won't do her any good… Even though my normal Kaiten doesn't work, it does seem my Kaunta-Kaiten works against her attacks…'

"Kaunta-Kaiten!!" He yelled, again deflecting all of the Chakra-weapons thrown at him and at the same time throwing them back to Ten-Ten. Neji was impressed that all of the weapons got 'absorbed' into Ten-Ten's defense. "Very good… But you should know that you will not be able to win this…"

Ten-Ten nodded. "I know, but it doesn't hurt to try!"

"Sometimes it does…" Was Neji's reply as he went into a new stance. "Fuchi Chuubu!!".

Neji's gigantic Heavenly Spin covered the entire area… Even Gai and Lee were too late to outrun it. Now, Ten-Ten, Gai and Lee were paralyzed. Neji chuckled. "How interesting… I could perform my next attack, but I don't think that's necessarily." Neji said. 'And because I really don't want to hurt you, Ten-Ten…'

* * *

"Your father was the Fourth Hokage, Naruto-kun." Kakashi nervously uttered.

Naruto's eyes widened a great deal as he took that piece of information in. Kakashi continued. "Yes, I know this is shocking… If we would have told you back then… you wouldn't have been able to take it. You wouldn't have understood everything that happened around you. It was all for a reason, and that reason is that if you had lead a normal, happy life, you would have never been able to defeat the Kyuubi. The Fourth wanted you to live your life the way you did, so you would be strong. I know you have even surpassed his expectations. But now comes the part where you can grow even stronger, Naruto-kun… Your Bloodline Limit…"

Naruto kept silent as Kakashi analyzed his reactions.

"From what I have seen of your father's ability… I can assume that he has the perfect absolute defense and offense… Naruto-kun, I think you have the same ability in you. I believe that the reason why it has never been activated in you was because of the Kyuubi inside of you. Now that it is gone, you might notice a few changes inside of you… When you do notice, I want you to talk to either me or Jiraiya-sama. The two of us are the only ones who know of your Bloodline Limit now."

Noticing that Naruto was still quiet and taking it all in, he continued. "Your Bloodline Limit is… Temporarily Assimilation, at least, that's how much I know. Jiraiya-sama probably knows more. But what it means is… If an enemy is using Fire Jutsus against you, you'll be able to change your entire body to fire and absorb the attack. The same goes for Water, Electricity, Ice, Wind, Sand, you name it. Another thing is that with your Bloodline Limit, you can change the environment around you and make your attack more devastating. For example, change your surroundings into an Ice Mountain and use Ice Jutsus, while you are also able to use your Bloodline Limit to be able to withstand the Ice-cold temperature.…"

Naruto frowned. His Bloodline Limit was really complicated.

"Also, you can alter the area around your opponent and even the opponent him or herself. For example, you make him have a very cold body temperature and use a big Fire attack… Do you understand, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sighed and slowly nodded. "I… I think I do… But I'm guessing you have no idea how to activate it?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Another thing, Naruto-kun… Your mother… I never knew her name, but she also has a Bloodline Limit… But, until you have mastered your father's Bloodline Limit, I will not give you information about your mother's Bloodline Limit."

"Why not?!" Naruto asked aggravated.

Kakashi shrugged. "Well… One, I know exactly NOTHING about your mother's Bloodline Limit. And two, Hokage-sama's orders…"

Naruto groaned. "Aww, man!!!"

* * *

Up until now the mission was getting on his nerves. They encountered stupid Shinobis who ran away from the Sand Village to try and find a better place to live, while he hoped they would face strong Shinobis who ran away and became missing-nins to become stronger. And now they were finally chasing a strong Missing-nin. Gaara was ignoring Temari as she was giving information about the opponent. Kankurou was listening, though.

'I hope this one gives me a challenge…' Gaara thought excitedly. "Let's move faster."

Temari and Kankurou's eyes widened as Gaara sped forward in a speed they could not keep up with. "Damn it!" Kankurou whispered. "He doesn't know we're not THAT fast!"

Temari shook her head. "It seems there's still a little of the old Gaara inside of him… He was excited…"

Kankurou snorted. "He did ignore you, you know. He doesn't know anything about the missing-nin."

"I know. But I don't think it would make any difference…"

A small minute later, Kankurou and Temari approached an open field, just outside of the Thunder Country. They saw Gaara had managed to stop the missing-nin and was now standing in front of him. "We'll observe for now…" Temari said.

Kankurou nodded and decided to listen to Gaara and the missing-nin.

Gaara spoke up. "I do not know your name, but… I do not wish to know it either. I only know you are a missing-nin from the Sand. I am a Hunter-nin. You will die by my hands…"

The missing-nin snorted. "Fool, you're still a brat! What, how old are you? 18? I'm in my forties and my experience will bring me my victory against a young Shinobi like you. Don't think I have not sensed the other two Hunter-nins…"

Gaara simply stared at the older man in front of him. "Overconfidence does not suit you, old man. I'll prove you wrong and I will do it with pleasure."

The missing-nin disappeared. Gaara heard the man spoke up all around him. "Is that so, hunter? I'll show you what it's like to have complete freedom! Living in a Village your whole life limits you!!"

Gaara sighed as dozens of Kunais got knocked away by Gaara's automatic defense. Another shower of Kunai and Shuriken followed and the same thing happened. Gaara easily sensed the old man and felt that he was gathering Chakra to perform a technique.

"So, you use sand to protect yourself? How about I break that little shield of yours? Katon, Enkou Shuuha!!"

Temari's and Kankurou's eyes widened as a huge Wave of Flames descended upon Gaara. The wave of flames totally covered the entire field and Temari and Kankurou could feel the heat radiating from it.

As the now burned field came to view again, they saw that Gaara's Shield of Sand was now a Shield of Glass, and in less than a second, it crumbled to the ground. Gaara didn't seem to be impressed by the feat the missing-nin had just pulled. Gaara looked at him as he landed in front of him. "Now how will you defend yourself?"

"You only managed to get around my weakest defense, old man… You still have two more to penetrate… I am hoping that that fire attack was not your strongest attack, otherwise, you have gravely disappointed me…"

The old man's eyes narrowed. "Hmph! You talk big, for such a short man! Let's see you try stopping my next attack!! Doton, Suna Tatsuno!!"

Kankurou narrowed his eyes. 'Earth, Sand Technique?'

Temari's eyes widened as a huge dragon of sand was heading straight for Gaara. Gaara was simply standing there with his arms folded, but Temari doubted that Gaara would be able to stop the attack with his defenses…

The huge impact of the Sand Dragon against Gaara caused the ground to tremble and sand was flying everywhere. Temari and Kankurou were coughing and were waving sand out of their way so they could see the outcome of the collision. The old missing-nin was doing quite the same thing. The Sand Dragon was gone as soon as it made its impact on Gaara.

It took a while before the huge amount of sand flew away with wind. Temari and Kankurou's eyes widened as they saw Gaara…. Simply stand on the exact same spot.

"Is this all you've got, old man?"

The old man fell backwards on his ass, too shocked to respond immediately. "You… How?! That was my strongest attack!!"

'I guess I should have expected this… I've become very powerful…' Gaara sighed. "Your attack was not strong enough. I had already reactivated my Shield of Sand. And when your attack was powerful enough to break through the Shield, my Barrier stopped it. This fight is over…"

The old man tried to run away but found himself surrounded by figures made out of sand. "Those are my Advanced Sand Clones… Aren't they beautiful?"

The old man despaired as every sand clone expanded in size and offered no escape. Gaara grinned and made all Sand Clones form into the attack "Suna Shuurajou!"

Temari and Kankurou looked away and covered their ears… as the old man literally screamed his lungs out…

* * *

Sasuke and Neji were walking home after their training. Tomorrow it would be all missions again. And they didn't really mind. It was all one step closer to the Jounin Exam and to the better missions. The Jounin Exam would be interesting to participate in too, since there would a few challenges.

"We have a problem…" Neji suddenly stated.

"Hmm?" Sasuke 'said.'

"Haruno Sakura is approaching us… along with Hinata-sama." He responded.

Sasuke groaned close to VERY loudly. "I'm really hating this day…"

"Also… Naruto's not back yet. It's already late, usually he's training close to his own apartment this time around…"

Sasuke shrugged and looked ahead of him. "Who knows what he's doing… Ino and Hinata were training him in his Chakra Control today, I heard."

"Heh, an impossible task…"

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled, before she turned to Neji. "Neji-san. What are you two doing here so late?"

Sasuke and Neji both lifted their shoulders, indicating that they didn't really know.

"Well, Hinata-chan and I were just taking a walk; we tend to do that these days. During our walks we talk about all sorts of stuff. Sometimes, Ino joins us too, but she has to get up early for the Yamanaka Flower Shop often. We also take a walk at night just to… take a break. Also to make sure that there are no intruders around, of course…"

Neji and Sasuke were both sweat dropping as Sakura continued to talk crap the entire time. They shared a look of annoyance, both begging the other to say something so they could be on their 'merry' way.

"Anno… Naruto-kun is approaching…" Hinata suddenly interjected, two minutes later.

Neji noticed that Hinata had her Byakugan activated and he activated his own too. 'True… and he seems… sad…'

* * *

The next morning, Neji, Sasuke and Naruto were in the office of Tsunade. She told they would know their mission after the announcements of the Chuunin Exam. So right now they were seated in the stadium, watching the Genins in the arena.

"27 Genins… That's a lot…" Neji said as he was seated in between Sasuke and Naruto. "I do wonder who has made it Chuunin…"

"Hm… It's stupid, but some of them will actually have the same rank as us…" Sasuke snorted.

Neji laughed. "True… But I do think the three of us are the strongest in the Village…"

Sasuke and Neji both had noticed that Naruto was extremely quiet. Yesterday night, Naruto walked passed them with one single and simple sentence: "Hey guys… Sorry, but I don't really feel like talking right now…" and then he walked home. He didn't even bother to loop up to the two of them and Sakura and Hinata.

Something was definitely up. But Neji knew Naruto would fix it on his own and Sasuke didn't really care too much as he was too busy trying to develop the Amaterasu, anyway.

And then, Shikamaru spoke up, in the centre of the arena. It was strange, seeing someone like Shikamaru gain the attention of actually everyone in the stadium. "We will now announce the Genins that will be promoted to Chuunin!!"

"The Grass Genin Team with the members Hyouku, Roku Saidin and Fubuki. The Sand Genin Team consistent of Ritsu Haika, Kozo Otsuki and Ryouji Izuhara. The Leaf Genin Team with Hyuga Hanabi, Gekkou Toji and Morino Ujin. The Mist Genin Team with Keiko Oyama, Akoto Ikuton and Yuriko. All others have failed! Try again next time!"

* * *

TBC

A/N: Definite NejixTen-Ten... I'm not sure who Naruto should be with. The same goes for Sasuke. I'm including the Ramen Girl and does anyone know the name of the purple-haired ANBU female? You know, the one who was talking with Kakashi after the Third died? Sorry to the people who expected more romance, but I had to set up this first! The Romance will come as soon as Naruto starts trying to activate his Bloodline Limit and Sasuke tries to develop the Amaterasu. Any suggestions for pairing??? NaruHina or NaruSaku? SasuHina or SasuSaku? How about Ino? Should she be paired with Shikamaru, or should Shikamaru be paired up with Temari and Ino with Naruto or Sasuke?!?!?! Help me!! Also, if you suggest something, please tell me why… as in, good reason, I do want it to be realistic…

On a sidenote: Remember, I do not write YAOI!


	9. Expectations Through The Roof

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Notes: Oh my GOD!! 71 Reviews for one chapter!! I love you guys/girls!! Man, 71 is a lot… I decided to reply to the ten biggest reviews I got… Oh, this chapter will be a set-up for a few missions in the next chapter, or maybe two chapters. During those missions, there will also be training and a little bit of romance. I'm not that good in writing romance, so I needed some time to think about it, heh… This chapter will mostly have action, btw… Sorry!!

Oh, and please thank my pre and beta-reader: Pyr00tje!! He's a good guy, just a bit of a Ino-Hentai-lover….

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Review Reply Corner:

**Linus**** Van Pelt**: You read the two books and this book in one day?! Man, I know people who take a lot more than one day about reading such an amount. I agree with your opinion on Naruto, Hinata and Ino, despite the many opinions of NaruHina. Heh, and you won't have to worry too much about Sakura and Sasuke. About your SasuHina suggestion, I don't think a better bloodline will come of it, since the Sharingan is somewhat a descendant from the Byakugan, I thought. Shikamaru might need someone smart enough for him and most girls in Naruto are pretty smart, although in different ways. Hehe, Sasuke with Hanabi, huh? Hmmm, if time goes on and he takes very long in killing Itachi, then Hanabi will be older… She is 7 or 6, now right? Neh, that's a 5 year difference. Man, about some things in your review you have the exact same ideas I have for this book… But I'm not gonna reveal anything!

**Bob**-**kun**: Hmm, I don't know about NaruHina. When you look at it, it seems rather unrealistic, seeing that Naruto never noticed her and Hinata never did have the guts to let him notice her. But their pasts fit, but almost everyone in Naruto had a horrible past. One thing is that I've decided to NOT put Hinata with Sasuke. Heh, your reasoning with pairings is really well-placed. I have to admit, some of your explanations made me think about the possibilities. But, I disagree, Hinata is not really that boring, is she? I do think that Shino and Sasuke will forever be alone, Shino because… I don't know anything about him and Sasuke because he's always cold and is incapable of change.

**Xaerox**: NaruSaku is interesting and there haven't many fics out there about the pairing, but I don't know if I'm going to do that. Crushes don't last forever, I feel, and Naruto has matured a lot since his 'crush' on Sakura. Your ideas about Sasuke fit perfectly with mine . NaruHina too, even though most fics are of that pairing. Heh, Shikamaru a player? A lazy player, perhaps . I'll see what I'll do about Temari and Ino, hehe… I still have to figure how I'll make the personality of the Ramen Girl out to be. What's her name, anyway? Ayame or Ayane? Heh, about updating, you should update your fic, too…

**Karibanu**: If I pair Temari with Shikamaru they'll say "Remember the first time we met?" And that'll be funny, I think. Aww, why don't you like my Sakura? She's not IC, then? -pouts- Anyway, I do wonder how Hinata will react to getting more attention from the guys… And you are correct about developing Ino a bit more. Perhaps a few flashbacks here and there. More of her POV, too, probably.

**TyRoone**: You like the Bloodline thingy? He's practically untouchable if anyone uses Fire, Water, Electricity, Ice, Sand, Stone or Wind Techniques on him, in fact, those will make him even stronger. So the only to fight him is hand-to-hand combat and then Naruto will use his Red Chakra as defense, heh. And yes, Gekkou Toji is Hayate's son, while Morino Ujin is Ibiki's grandson. I'll try to live up to your expectations. Writing Humor and Romance is hard for me…

**M&Ms**: I'll consider your suggestions for pairings. You're right about Sakura respecting Naruto and she has started with that in the manga already. I agree about your Hinata – Naruto thing. Naruto SUDDENLY falling in love with Hinata would be unrealistic, but I've seen a few stories in which the author has done an excellent job. But I don't think Sasuke would ever help another, unless it's for his own benefits.

**EfrainMan**: Hey, hey, Romance is hard to write, especially if you want it to be believable, at least, for me. Love triangles are fun, aren't they? But I don't know if I can do that, there are so many guys in so few girls in Naruto already. SasuHina would be easier to write, I feel, since Sasuke won't feel annoyance towards her. Now Lee is a very tricky one… Sakura never liked the guy, only respected him, just like she does now with Naruto, actually. -sigh-, fixing these pairings up is pretty hard…

**Refused**: I'm not sure if I'll do dual bloodlines, maybe in the next book when more information is gathered/known about Naruto's mother. But ShikaIno is not really a rare pairing, NaruIno is and it's a really interesting one, too. Sasuke won't get anyone for the time being, I think, but I'm not sure yet. Oh well, I'll work on the romance, and ShikaTema seems to be plausible, especially with the next Jounin Exam, where Shikamaru will be summoned to observe, since he's already a Jounin and Temari will be participating.

**Lemmings12**: I think Naruto is already indestructible right now. I just wanted him to work on new Jutsus so he can show off during the most difficult fights to come. Yes, you're right about this sister-brother type of relations in fics, I should include that too… But with whom? But I don't know about NaruHina, it's just too overused right now. Almost every HET fic in Naruto is NaruHina and SasuSaku, it gets boring reading the same way they fall in love with each other over and over…

**Rachel**: Hehe, well, about Sakura being annoyed at Sasuke, I think most people would be… Especially with what's happening in the manga now. But again, I don't think Sasuke will help anyone else, knowing his arrogance and selfishness and I don't he'll ever ease down on his training. I don't know about ShikaIno, because that pairing is, like, getting a bit cliché.  
  
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After the announcements of the Chuunin Exam, Sasuke and Neji were expected in the Hokage office. As they left, they saw Kakashi taking Naruto away. They would start receiving missions today again and they hoped the missions would be high-ranked. These last few days had been very boring and getting another boring mission wouldn't do at all.

"Some Genins didn't deserve to become Chuunin." Sasuke said. "This new rule of letting a whole team become Chuunin was a bad one."

"I agree. I can't even remember one Genin who deserved to be Chuunin." Neji responded and then looked at Sasuke. "Do you think Naruto has a mission with Kakashi?"

Sasuke frowned. "If that is so, I envy him… Then it's at least a high-ranked mission."

Neji shrugged. "Perhaps we'll have a good mission too."

**There Where When is Now, Book 3**

Chapter 9: Expectations Through The Roof

"I have ordered you to come by to let you know some new… settlements." Tsunade began. "Your Chuunin Team, Neji, was better than all Jounin Teams. Because of that, we have decided to put you in different teams to do missions until the Jounin Exam commences in the Wind Country."

Neji nodded and looked at Sasuke, while Tsunade continued. "Hyuga Neji, you'll be accompanying Inuzuka Kiba, Ten-Ten and Haruno Sakura on missions. You will act as leader." Tsunade turned to Sasuke. "Uchiha Sasuke, you will go on missions with Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji and Hyuga Hinata. I have not decided who the leader is to be, you'll have to discuss that with Hyuga Hinata."

Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke both sighed. "So, what kind of mission do we have today?" Sasuke asked.

Tsunade smiled. "Not really a mission. You're in a new team, so you have one day to get to know each other enough to be going on missions together. Tomorrow, the real missions will begin."

Neji snorted. "One day to get to know each other? That won't be necessary. I already know the three in my team and know their skills."

"They have improved a lot since between your 'departure' and your return to the Village. You'll be in for a surprise." Tsunade interrupted.

"What about Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"What about him? He's being informed of the situation and is to receive a scroll with Hatake Kakashi as we speak. After this little mission he has right now, he'll be having Hyuga Hanabi, Morino Ujin and Gekkou Toji as teammates."

"New Chuunins in his team? And one of the Main Hyuga Branch, too… Do you think that is wise?" Neji immediately asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto lacks the responsibility to become a Jounin right now. With them with him, he'll learn it. I will be giving him a high-ranked mission soon. He'll have to take care of the other three."

"What if things go wrong?" Sasuke asked.

Tsunade smiled. "Then I guess it's a shame… Hyuga Hanabi is an important member of the Hyuga Family, if she was to die in her very first mission as a Chuunin, it would be unlucky.."

"Not to mention the anger of the Main Branch…" Neji added. "But that is none of my concern. I am assuming we will be receiving high-ranked missions too?"

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. Now, you two can leave. I expect Naruto and Kakashi to be about done soon, too."

Sasuke and Neji nodded and left the office.

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"Hmm. It seems we will not be finding anything on your past here, Naruto-kun."

Kakashi and Naruto were going through Scrolls that had survived the Akatsuki War. Most had been destroyed when the old Hokage Tower had been blown up. Now, the scrolls were being held in a casual building.

Naruto gritted his teeth. "So now I can only depend on myself for activating my Bloodline Limit?"

Kakashi shrugged as a response. "Well, me and Jiraiya-sama can help you, when we're not busy. But right now, we should be heading for the Hokage, she's expecting us."

Naruto sighed in annoyance. "This sucks…"

Kakashi nodded. "Let's go."

They both ran for the Hokage Tower in high speed and reached it in below a minute.

"Any luck in finding any scrolls?" Was Tsunade's first question as the two entered.

They both shook their head. Tsunade nodded and continued. "I am sorry, Naruto, but I don't know anything about your family either." She paused. "Anyway, you're in a new team. You'll be the leader, as you always wanted. The other three should be arriving soon."

Kakashi smiled at his old student. "Naruto is ready to become a leader, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade shrugged. "One day he will be." She turned to Naruto. "Listen, Naruto. You have a great responsibility as a leader. You have to do anything you can to finish the mission given to you, preferably without losing any of your teammates. Protect them."

Naruto nodded and grinned widely. "No problem! I've been on many missions when I was with Itachi and Dareda. So, who's in my team?"

"Hyuga Hanabi, Morino Ujin and Gekkou Toji."

Kakashi frowned and Naruto yelled. "What?! But they've been Chuunin for one day!!"

"I agree, Hokage-sama. They're not ready for high-ranked missions yet." Kakashi said.

"They'll just have to be. Besides, they have Naruto as their leader, I'm sure Naruto will do just fine."

Naruto swallowed nervously. "Of course… But why do I get the weaklings in my team?"

"Live with it, Naruto!" Tsunade yelled. A knock on the door came and Tsunade loudly yelled. "Come in!!"

Naruto and Kakashi both sighed and turned their heads to see Naruto's new teammates come in. Naruto sighed again.

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Kiba, Ten-Ten and Sakura were expectantly gazing at Neji. Neji sighed in response and sat down on the ground.

"I think we'll just do what every new team does… But I think introducing ourselves right now would be unnecessary." Neji began. "So, we'll skip introductions and train together. Ok?"

Kiba laughed. "Heh! This is going to be a good team! Alright, Neji! Let's see what you've got! I challenge you!"

Neji snorted. "Challenge me? You're literally asking for a beating, then."

Kiba snorted back. "Come on, then!"

Sakura and Ten-Ten sighed, being familiar with Kiba's attitude.

Kiba rushed forward towards Neji, who saw that Akamaru had vanished. Just as Kiba was about to land a hit on him, he divided into another Kiba and Akamaru. Above, Neji saw that three smoke balls descend towards him. 'Smoke balls won't work against my Byakugan.' Neji smirked. "Byakugan!"

Neji easily sidestepped both Kiba's and Akamaru's attacks and let them skid passed them. "Useless. You know I have the Byakugan and you should also realize that I could have already hit both of you three times. You have to have more than this; otherwise you disappoint me as a teammate."

Kiba snorted. "Shikakyuu no Jutsu!! Juujin Bunshin!!"

Neji smiled as he stared at two Kibas, who were both very animal-like. He smiled as both Kiba and Akamaru, who had transformed into Kiba, began their attack. "Sankontessou!!"

Neji leaped left and right to avoid the yellow Chakra that the two threw at him. Watching with his Byakugan, he could see that the attack was like a flying, loose claw, which grew the longer it floated through the air. The claw-shaped yellow Chakra would also rip through him, if it would hit. Neji concluded that it would penetrate the Heavenly Spin, but the Counter-Heavenly Spin would bounce the attack right back to Kiba.

"Kaunta-Kaiten!!"

Kiba and Akamaru jumped in the air to avoid getting hit and performed the second technique. "Gatsuuga!!"

Neji cracked his knuckles and let the duo approach. "Kaiten!!"

Sakura and Ten-Ten watched as the Piercing Fang and the Heavenly Spin were battling. The ground around them rumbled, until Kiba and Akamaru were knocked backwards. Neji chuckled. "That was really bad…"

Kiba growled and looked at Akamaru. "Soutourou!!"

Neji watched in amusement as both of them transformed in huge white two-headed wolves. The two wolves towered over Neji, who was smirking. "Interesting…"

Suddenly, one of the wolves jumped and then Neji's eyes widened. He immediately leaped out of the way to avoid getting peed on. "You…! What an indecent attack!!"

The wolf landed on the other side of Neji and growled. "Heh! So what do you do now, Hyuga?"

Neji narrowed his eyes to see both were performing almost the same motion as they were with the Piercing Fang. "Garouga!!"

Neji watched as the wolves were performing the Double Wolf Fang from behind and the front. 'My speed is too low to dodge, so I'll have to use the Heavenly Spin again…'

"Kaiten!! Full Power!!"

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Sasuke wasn't having fun at all as he stared Ino, Hinata and Chouji down. Hyuga Hinata stepped forward.

"Sasuke-kun. You can be the leader if you want."

Sasuke shook his head. "I think this is best settled over a battle… Although I normally don't challenge women, this seems to be the better choice." He said as he stared at Chouji.

Chouji narrowed his eyes. "What? Are you saying that it's best if you challenge her instead of me?" He said, before he began to eat again.

Sasuke shook his head. "If that's what you want to believe, sure. Now…" He turned back to Hinata. "Let's have a duel!"

"Wait!" Chouji screamed. "Before you challenge my leader, I want you to challenge me first!"

Sasuke frowned at Chouji, before he sighed. "So you respect Hyuga Hinata, then? Fine, I challenge you, Akimichi. You better be worth my time."

Chouji smiled and suddenly rammed both of his hand in the ground. Sasuke smirked and jumped away to avoid getting grabbed from behind, as Chouji's hands blasted through the ground behind him. As Sasuke landed, he noticed that Chouji had stretched his neck and was about to give him a headbutt, but Sasuke had already finished a few hand seals and was throwing a fire Jutsu at him. "Katon, Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

Chouji ducked to the ground to let the Fire Jutsu soar passed and above him. Chouji went back to his normal state and performed a few hand seals. "Doton, Doryou Dango!"

Sasuke was surprised at the strength Chouji displayed as he ripped a huge piece of dirt from out of the ground with one hand. And then he grabbed another huge piece with his other hand. After that, Chouji ran at him. Sasuke smirked. 'He's very strong, but he's too slow…'

Sasuke vanished, leaving Chouji to look around. As soon as Sasuke appeared, he was throwing another fire Jutsu at Chouji, but Chouji had already thrown both of his huge Mud Balls at Sasuke, successfully negating the Fire Jutsus. Sasuke snarled, before he jumped over both the Mud Balls and performed another set of hand seals. "Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Chouji dodged the Fireballs with ease and blocked Sasuke's right foot as it was nearing his face. Immediately, Chouji used another technique. "Nikudan Hari Sensha!!"

Sasuke watched in surprise as Kunais and Shurikens covered Chouji's entire body as he formed the Meat Tank. Sasuke somersaulted backwards, after almost getting hit by the rolling Chouji. As Sasuke landed, he had already performed a new set of hand seals. "Katon, Housenka!!"

Sasuke watched as his fire attack didn't affect Chouji in the slightest. Even the Shurikens hidden in the fire were deflected by the Kunais and Shurikens on Chouji's body. Sasuke grinned and activated the smaller version of the Chidori, which he called the Raikiri.

Chouji noticed and stopped rolling, as he did, all of the Kunais and Shurikens were thrown at Sasuke, who was forced to deactivate the Raikiri and jump. Chouji looked on as Sasuke tried to do the Raikiri again. Chouji quickly performed a few hand seals and finished just as Sasuke was running at him with the Raikiri. "Doton, Doroku Gaeshi!!"

Sasuke's Raikiri met the hardened mud Chouji used to spread all around him. Sasuke jumped backwards to avoid getting hit as Chouji let the mud collapse. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Chouji. "I admit, you are better than I thought… However, now it's time to get a little more serious…"

"Sharingan!!"

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"I already know how you guys fight, but I don't know you personally." Naruto said as he stood in front of Hanabi, Toji and Ujin, on an old training field. Tsunade had ordered them to train together for the mission they would receive tomorrow.

"I am Gekkou Toji… Son of the deceased Gekkou Hayate. I promised myself to become as good as him. So far, I have mastered the Mikazuki no Mai, which is said to be impossible to perform as a Genin. My previous Jounin Instructor said my sword skills were formidable, while my weaknesses are my stamina and insight in battle."

Naruto frowned. 'He knows his own weaknesses?'

"I am Morino Ujin, son of Morino Taku, who is the son of Morino Ibiki. My specialties lie in Genjutsu and I wield the Torture Staff of the Morino Clan well…"

Naruto nodded his head, although he didn't know anything of the Morino Clan. He looked at Hanabi.

"I am Hyuga Hanabi. Member of the Main Brach of the Hyuga Clan and I am well on my way to become the strongest." Hanabi then sighed and turned to Naruto again. "You are Uzumaki Naruto, said to be the one who has beaten the Kyuubi. I hope you are a better leader than Rock Lee."

Naruto frowned. "What? Lee wasn't good?"

Hanabi shook her head. "As a Jounin Instructor, I find he wasn't. I learned with my Byakugan that he has lots of Chakra, but will never be able to use it for Ninjutsu or Genjutsu."

Naruto nodded. "Yes, that's true. He only knows Taijutsu. Well, I know Ninjutsu, but I prefer not to use Genjutsu."

Hanabi nodded. "I could see your Chakra during the Chuunin Exam. From the looks of it, in that area you're better than Lee." Hanabi said. 'He also has the most Chakra in him than I have ever seen…' Hanabi thought. 'How can he handle that much now?'

Naruto nodded. "I'll try. Now, this is my first time as a leader, but I could see in the Chuunin Exam that your teamwork is top-notch! What I want to work on is the variety of techniques you three use. You fought against me and I could see you were constantly repeating your attacks. I expect you don't have many to begin with. On top of that, you were Rookie Genins and now Rookie Chuunins."

Naruto turned to Toji. "Gekkou Toji, you're sword skills are formidable, you said. How is your Ninjutsu?"

Toji shrugged.

"What are you, without your sword, then?"

Toji shrugged again. Naruto sighed and clasped his hands together. "I'll teach you the Karm no Jutsu, since you say your stamina isn't the best." Naruto performed a hand seal and a second later, an advanced clone stood next to Naruto. Naruto faced the clone. "Teach this kid the Karm no Jutsu." The clone nodded. "Toji, follow him." Naruto said as his clone walked away.

Naruto then turned to Hanabi. "Hyuga Hanabi… I am sure you know most Hyuga techniques?" Naruto continued as Hanabi nodded. "Good, then I don't have to go through that bothersome stuff… I'll teach you a Summoning Technique… Now, most summoning techniques require you to be Jounin level, but that's only when you want to summon the Summoning Boss…" Naruto performed a few hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Before him, a scroll had suddenly appeared. "This is the contract of the Wasps… Now, these are the hand seals for the Summoning Technique." Naruto said as he showed Hanabi the hand seals. Naruto then continued. "Now, I want you to learn this next technique: Kuchiyose Kabashira!" Naruto performed the technique and Hanabi watched as a huge swarm, an army of larger than normal wasps appeared around Naruto. "Killer Bees…" Naruto said with a smirk as he made all of them disappear again.

Hanabi watched in awe. 'That requires a lot of Chakra, but he knows that I have enough Chakra to perform it. This is a very useful technique…'

"You'll need to sign the contract with your blood, Hanabi-san." Naruto said, before he turned towards the last member of his team.

"Morino Ujin. Your use of the staff is good enough and you can do Genjutsu well… I have also seen your Ninjutsu, your Acupuncture Techniques. How about an elementary attack? You prefer anything?"

Ujin seemed to think about it and watched as Naruto's advanced clone was teaching Toji and Hanabi was signing the contract. "Electricity…"

Naruto nodded. "You saw the Karm no Jutsu my Advanced Clone just performed? It has four elements in it. Fire, Water, Ice and Electricity. Though only a small amount. I'll give you a powerful electric one… the Rakurai no Jutsu…"

Naruto performed a few hand seals and Ujin watched in amazement as small lightning bolts surrounded Naruto's hands. "Rakurai no Jutsu." He mouthed, after he pointed both his hands towards different directions. Ujin's mouth dropped open as from Naruto's hands powerful lightning bolts were shot and they easily destroyed two trees. Naruto grinned at Ujin's shocked expression. "Follow me, Ujin." He said as he walked away.

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Sakura and Ten-Ten watched as the two two-headed white wolves were blown backwards. It seems Neji was the stronger one as he was still standing, not even panting. The two wolves landed harshly on the ground but they were quickly on their feet quick again. Neji chuckled.

"Impressive attack, you managed to make me get a little serious… I hope this is not all you've got, Kiba."

The two wolves growled and one of them yelled "Kizu Ittouippa!!" while the other wolf moved in the same way.

Neji's eyes widened as he saw what Kiba was going to do now. The Sankontessou he had performed before was now being performed again in a more powerful way and simultaneously too… Yellow claw-shaped Chakra attacks were dancing all around the battle-field, towards Neji. 'Shit! This is a very effective attack, good for the kill… Perfect to test myself, too…' Neji paused. "Senshin-Byakugan!! Kaunta-Kaiten!!"

Now, the grounds rumbled harshly and Sakura and Ten-Ten ducked for cover as Neji deflected all of the yellow Chakra Claws Kiba and Akamaru had thrown at him towards almost every direction. Sakura and Ten-Ten were having trouble dodging and knew how bad these attacks hurt, also by the sounds of Akamaru and Kiba's howling as they were hit by many…

The attacks had stopped and Neji was slightly panting as he stared at the two wolves before them, who were also panting. Neji slipped into his Hyuga Stance again, but folded his arms as he saw Kiba and Akamaru change back to their old form. "I can't believe you can still fight on after that… That was my last and final attack… Usually it offers no escape and it brings death even to a larger group. Sakura and Ten-Ten were familiar with the technique, so I knew they would be safe. But you didn't know the technique but were still able to counter it towards me… You're an awesome Shinobi."

Neji smiled. "Your attack was perfect for everything except against a Hyuga, I assume… It's a perfect attack and I have to admit I was impressed. It takes a lot to impress me."

Ten-Ten and Sakura were smiling when they arrived at where Kiba and Neji were standing. "Nice match!! Since you've already fought with me once, Neji, how about you take Sakura on, Neji?"

Neji looked at Sakura and was sceptical about her improvements… But he nodded. 'I don't think the pinkhead has improved at all…'

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Sasuke smirked as he stared Chouji down with his Sharingan. 'Obviously, he doesn't know how to fight an Uchiha, as he is staring directly into my eyes. If he's lucky, he'll never have to fight an Uchiha seriously.'

Chouji narrowed his eyes and calmed down. 'He has activated his Sharingan… This is just a sparring match, so I don't want to use my pills… So, what do I do? Gather my Chakra inside my body to a certain extent… So my body can withstand a lot of damage and at the time be able to give a lot of damage…' Chouji braced himself. 'It's a lot less effective than when I'm using the Akimichi Pills, but in a sparring match, it will do…'

Sasuke performed a few hand seals and noticed that Chouji was rearranging the Chakra in his body with his Sharingan. Not waiting to see what he was doing, Sasuke finished his seals. "Katon, Karyu Endan!!"

Chouji's eyes widened at the massive fire attack Sasuke threw towards him. Hinata and Ino were also surprised that Sasuke would use a big attack like that, but weren't really worried. Chouji used his raw power to beat a hole in the ground and he dug himself in, avoiding the fire attack at the same time.

As the Fire attack died down, Chouji was able to see the sky again, but he also saw Sasuke descending fast towards him, with electricity in his hands. 'He's… fighting too seriously…'

Chouji gritted his teeth and, instead of dodging the next attack, he leaped straight towards Sasuke and body slammed straight into him. Chouji fell as the small Raikiri hit him in the shoulder and Sasuke was blown backwards.

As Chouji landed, he felt his shoulder. 'Ah… Sasuke held back, after all, otherwise the damage would have been a lot bigger.' He thought as he watched the burned spot on his shoulder. He looked in front of him and saw Sasuke slowly walking towards him. 'Sasuke's good… I'm sure he felt my attack, but from the looks of it he wasn't fazed by it at all…'

Sasuke grinned as he noticed the surprised look on Chouji's face. "I'm guessing this was all you had to offer me, then?"

Chouji sighed and shook his head. "No! I can also use my Akimichi Pills and than I'll be even stronger than you with your Curse Seal!"

Sasuke snorted. "Is that so? I don't want to use my Curse Seal anymore… Those Pills of yours, does it have any bad effects?"

Chouji nodded as he rose to his feet. "Yeah, they do. I can die when I use the third and strongest pill, while the other pills damage my muscles. Other than that, my appetite is big after the usage of the Pills."

"You mean… bigger than usual?" Sasuke asked as he frowned at the Akimichi before him. He sighed as Chouji nodded. Sasuke turned towards Hinata and Ino…

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"I like what we're doing, so don't get me wrong, Uzumaki-san… But shouldn't we be more focused on our teamwork?" Hanabi asked Naruto as the four of them were taking a break.

Naruto shrugged and yawned at the same time. "Well, let's see… We have your Byakugan, my nose, Toji's skill with weapons and Ujin's Genjutsu… I don't think we can really screw up… Besides, I'll act more as your back-up and will help when you're in trouble during missions, seeing that the teamwork of you three is perfect. Don't worry, I also learned how to deal with wounds, so even if you are about to die… I can use my Chakra to heal most wounds…"

"That's really… comforting to know…" Toji hesitantly uttered.

"You're not really responsible, though." Ujin interjected. "It might be true that you are able to heal us if we are injured, but… it is expected of the leader that he or she will not allow his or her subordinates to get hurt by any means."

Naruto sighed. "Hey… if you were in my shoes, you would do the same thing!"

Hanabi shook her head. "We will deal with tomorrow's mission easily, anyway… Chances of being ambushed simply don't exist, and the chances that we ambush others are extremely high… Our Team right now fits perfectly, as we can play in on each other's errors…"

Naruto nodded. "Indeed… So instead of practicing our teamwork, we'll work on new Jutsus… How are you guys coming along?"

After Naruto had showed the three Rookie Chuunins the Jutsus he wanted them to know, he also walked away to practice a new Jutsu of himself.

Toji began. "This Karm no Jutsu… it's tricky… I tried to combine all elements into one attack, but they seem to be fighting each other, instead of combining together." Toji paused. "But I will figure this out. I will not allow you to help me any further with this, Naruto-san."

Naruto nodded and grinned. "Heck, even if you asked I wouldn't have helped you!"

Ujin continued. "The Rakurai no Jutsu is impressive because of the flexibility of the technique… I have yet to discover the most effective way to use it. I have learned that it can be offensive as well as it can de defensive. If given the time, I will master the technique properly."

Hanabi smiled, proud that things were finally changing. She continued. "I have already mastered the Summoning Technique you wanted me to master. It was easy since I know how much Chakra I have to use to perform it. My Byakugan makes it even easier."

Naruto nodded. "New Jutsu for you it is, then… As for me, I have mastered a new Jutsu as well… And I call it… Juushin no Jutsu… I am well on my way to mastering another, based on the same thing… Gravity…" Naruto paused. "The next Jutsu, which I am working on right now, I will call… Mujuu Ryokyuu." He ended with a grin. "I will not tell you what the technique does, I'll show it to you during the mission… perhaps.."

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After the training, Naruto, Sasuke and Neji met up in the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. All of them were not close to being tired, but were hungry as hell. After having devoured ten bowls of Ramen, almost including the bowls, they started talking.

"So, how're you teams?" Naruto asked the both of them as he ordered another bowl, still being hungry.

Sasuke sighed, not hungry anymore, and answered. "It was pretty interesting… Akimichi Chouji can become very strong if he uses the Akimichi pills…"

Neji nodded. "True… I've seen him use them once, in the second Chuunin Exam we took. Apparently, he also used them during the Akatsuki War and he gave that Akatsuki Leader a hard time, too. I was already knocked out back then so I could not witness it."

Sasuke continued. "Yamanaka Ino's sword skills are formidable, but she's nowhere near actually hitting me. Her absolute defense is… bothersome, as she managed to trick me…"

Naruto smiled, mouth full with Ramen as he spoke. "Oh? What happened?"

Sasuke glared at Naruto and his curiosity. "Her absolute defense is a development of her Shintenshin no Jutsu. She actually surrounds herself with the Chakra needed to swap body and mind and then it happens. She got in my body, while I lost consciousness for a little while. She has come so far that she can actually kill the body she has possessed and return in her own body safely. It's very impressive. But it just takes a bit of Chakra to force her out, she explained. After that, I kept my guard up and didn't give her a second chance to catch me off guard."

Neji nodded. "What about Hyuga Hinata-sama?"

Sasuke smiled. "You taught her the Senshin-Byakugan… She's a very tough opponent when she activates it, dodging every attack I give and always finding an escape. But it seems she mostly uses Taijutsu, so it isn't hard to dodge her attacks. She would be the best in my team if I wasn't in it…" He finished.

Neji nodded. "As I thought, she has become quite powerful… As for my team… It was also interesting. Inuzuka Kiba has improved greatly and showed me his strongest technique, I had to use my strongest Counter-Heavenly Spin to withstand it, with my Senshin-Byakugan activated, too. Ten-Ten has become a Chakra specialist, having the ability to form her Chakra into actual weapons, defensive and offensive. And Haruno Sakura… I must say she's grown a lot since I've last seen her fight. Though she does not have the natural ability of having high strength, like Tsunade-sama, it does seem she can use her Chakra to have the same effect. Other than that, even my Byakugan got fooled by her Genjutsu… and a Byakugan NEVER gets tricked by Genjutsu… I was impressed."

Naruto chuckled. "Heh, so Sakura-chan kicked your ass, ey?"

Neji frowned. "Of course not! I went easy on her and still she could not land a hit on me…"

Sasuke chuckled as well. "From the old Team 7, she's still the weakest, Naruto. As it will always be."

Naruto nodded. "You two should consider yourselves lucky. I have brats as teammates! Hyuga Hanabi, Gekkou Toji and Morino Ujin. They're good for their age, but they'll be more of a pain than help during missions… I think this is more of a baby-sitting mission for me… Hyuga Hanabi is an important member of the Hyuga, I have heard. And with me as her leader, no harm will come to her, I think!"

Neji chuckled. "No harm? You're powerful, but you're also irresponsible and clumsy. This is a test Hokage-sama is giving you, to see if you've gotten responsible. She thinks you're not and it'll suit you well to prove her wrong."

Naruto sighed. "Whatever. Now, I'm full! Let's start training!"

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The three of them noticed that there were other Shinobis training on the training fields, as they sensed many different Chakra forms. Naruto sniffed his nose before Neji could activate his Byakugan.

"Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura." Naruto said in a serious tone. "I heard the two of them often train together."

Sasuke and Neji both nodded. "Let's observe, Ino is in my team and Sakura is in Neji's team. This might help a bit." Sasuke said.

Hiding in a tree, the three observed the two females from a large distance. Neji could easily see with his Byakugan, Sasuke with his Sharingan, and Naruto with his highly advanced eyes, thanks to the now deceased Kyuubi.

Ino was using the Kusanagi Sword to attack Sakura, but Sasuke, Neji and Naruto had already noticed it was not really Sakura but an illusion. Ino sliced the illusion apart, disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the field to slice at another, this time the real, Sakura. Sakura dodged by ducking to the ground, rolling and jumping up. Ino followed in hot pursuit.

'Ino is more powerful than Sakura in hand-to-hand combat… But Ino is easily fooled by Genjutsu.' Neji thought.

'She's not using the Kusanagi Sword properly… More training with it is needed.' Sasuke pondered. 'But she has to do it herself.'

Sasuke, Neji and Naruto noticed that the two females had noticed them, as they tried to create Bunshins and fool them from behind. All three males turned around and smiled as Ino and Sakura both appeared in the tree.

The two females weren't really surprised that they couldn't fool the three powerful Shinobis. "So, what brings you three here?" Ino asked.

Naruto grinned. "How about a sparring match?"

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Naruto chuckled and shook his head as he easily cancelled the Genjutsus Sakura was using on him. "My senses are too good to be fooled by most Genjutsu, Sakura-chan. I can smell myself out of them and can see through them."

'It's true, Genjutsu won't work on Naruto…' Sakura narrowed her eyes at the confident Naruto. "Hmm, then I'll use Ninjutsu and Taijutsu…"

Naruto chuckled again. "Come, then!"

Sakura gathered her Chakra at her fists and feet to increase the strength and at the same time she was performing hand seals too. 'Her Chakra Control is perfect…' Neji thought as he observed from a distance.

"Gurabiaay no Jutsu!!" Sakura yelled.

And then, time froze for Naruto… But also for Sasuke and Neji, who were interested in the technique and were also watching…

Naruto's jaw dropped open, blood dropped from his nose as Sakura stood in front of him with only a bikini… '…. Those… legs… Perfect figure… that che-'

Naruto's thoughts got interrupted as Sakura had gathered most of her Chakra in her right fist and punched Naruto in the face.

A little bit farther away, Sasuke was also staring at Sakura in only a bikini and so he got sliced in the shoulder by Ino's Kusanagi. Sasuke winced in pain and jumped back immediately. Ino was dumbfounded why she hit him this time, until she stared at Sakura. 'Damn that forehead.'

Neji was still staring at Sakura…

Sakura in the meantime, was shocked as well, seeing that Naruto was still in front of her. Usually, when she hit people with all of her strength, they would be thrown backwards by the hit, but Naruto wasn't. Sakura swallowed nervously and brought her fist back to her side. "Damn… You're strong, Naruto…" She said as she transformed back to her normal form.

Naruto smiled and rubbed his left cheek a bit. "Still, I did feel the punch, but it didn't really hurt." Naruto paused. "But, but! That was an awesome technique you used! Can you do it again!?"

Sakura frowned and grew angrier by the seconds. "Naruto, you pervert!!"

Sasuke used Chakra to heal the cut in his shoulder and remove the poison the Kusanagi had inserted. "Damn it…" He faced Ino. "You'll have to keep training with that sword to be able to move faster with it… Right now, you won't be able to hit anyone."

Ino frowned. "I hit you, didn't I?"

Sasuke froze for one split second, before he sighed. "I was… distracted."

"If you want to know… My Gurabiaay no Jutsu looks far more impressive than hers! Want me to show you?" Ino asked.

Sasuke, for some strange reason, couldn't really object and looked away, noticing that Naruto had heard and was looking at their direction.

"Gurabiaay no Jutsu!!"

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Later that day, Naruto found himself staring at the ceiling of his own room. It was a familiar ceiling, one that had not been looked at for a long time. Today he had not really been given the time to think about the things that have been told to him. His father was the Fourth, the famous Yondaime. And Naruto could be having HIS Bloodline Limit!

But he had no idea how to activate it. The only ones that could really help him with it were Kakashi and Jiraiya. But those two were often on missions or out of town.

His Bloodline Limit… Temporarily Assimilation, he could adjust himself to the techniques so they would be unable to ever hurt him and instead, they would give him more Chakra, since he would absorb the attacks. It was very interesting and it would be really useful, but it was probably very hard to control too…

Drifting his thoughts away from his Bloodline Limit, he thought about the upcoming missions with his new team. They would be boring and interesting at the same time. Boring for the fact that he had annoying teammates and interesting because the missions would be high-ranked. He would help Hanabi, Toji and Ujin in growing stronger, so they would be helpful for Konoha.

Naruto sighed before he yawned and closed his eyes. Today was an interesting day. Hearing your past, teaching Jutsus to Chuunins and training with old friends.

'And damn… Sakura and Ino look really good in a bikini…'

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TBC

That was it! So, how do you think Naruto should figure out how to activate his Bloodline Limit????


	10. Constricting Complications

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Author's Note: Uhmmm, not much to say, actually. This Chapter deals with one mission, some training en the next chapter will be a slight time-jump towards the Jounin Exam.

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Review Reply Corner:

**TyRooNe**: My apologies, then... Naruto will NOT be paired with Hinata in this fic. Well, in Naruto it's mission=money, right? Some do it for fun, others for the money. In any case, the missions are a Must. You are right about the fights in the previous chapter, I did want to show how strong the others have become. Thanks for liking my fic and the Bikini no Jutsu, hehehe! Many thanks!!

**Refused**: Yes, I have concluded to pairings!! It will be NejixTenTen, onesided SakuraxNaruto, and NarutoxIno… Next to that, let's just say a lot will go on during the Jounin Exam . Don't worry about the Bloodline Limit, I have it figured it out! Thanks for the review, man! And update your NarutoxTenTen fic!!

**One** **Azn** **Dragon**: Hey, maybe I'll make it longer later, for now, read the new chap, k? By the way, the deadline for our Challenge is approaching rapidly! Are you done? I haven't even started yet… Oh well, you're more of a pervert than I am. Neway, Seeya!

**Max** **Knight**: Yep, Naruto shows the Sexy no Jutsu and Sakura and Ino use their version of it! Ghehehe! Uhmm, yeah the Sharingan can see through Genjutsu, but Sasuke didn't have his Sharingan on. And the Byakugan can see through Genjutsu because the Byakugan is sensitive to surroundings. But Neji was focusing too much on the… uhmm.. Bikini, I guess, hehe.

**Karibanu**: True, true, Naruto does look a lot like the Fourth in here, so that's a plus for him. I don't think Sakura will ever be strong is she keeps whining all the time. I've read in many stories that Tsunade is family of Naruto, but I just don't believe that yet… Maybe later.

**Dreakon**: Hey, you're Dutch! So am I! Amusing to see more Dutch Naruto fans reading fanfics! Yep, I'll start with the extreme abuse for Naruto, but I don't think he'll activate it anytime soon now… Soo… You like the Bikini no Jutsu, huh? Heh, I should have guessed there are many perverts out there!!

**FMANaruto**: Yeah, well, I like it when Naruto is overpowered , I like it when the underdog becomes the strongest. But you're right, his Bloodline Limit will be very useful, possibly too useful… I'll think of some set back. Maybe…

**No one in particular**: True, romance or love just doesn't happen instantly. Don't worry about the pairings, I'll try not to make it too quick and thus unbelievable. Oh, about the Rasengan, I know the Sharingan won't be able to copy it. In any case, I won't let Sasuke have the Rasengan just like that…

**SaLLy11**: Oh, about those other fights, I just want to show how strong the others have become, next to Sasuke, Neji and Naruto. Perhaps unnecessarily, but it was fun to write it. Naruto will probably activate his Bloodline Limit accidentally, actually, I think I already know how…

**Lemmings12**: Heh, I still don't know how to let Naruto activate his Bloodline Limit, but it'll come eventually. The romance part is also the tricky part, but I'll do what I can to make it believable! Thanks for reviewing!

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It had been explained to him that the Leaf would have many difficult and high-ranked missions after the entire village had been repaired. In a way, he was glad he finally had a high-ranked mission, but he knew he lacked the true responsibility a Jounin had to be able to lead. He was no Kakashi, but now he was a lot stronger than the grey-haired genius, so his power would make up for the lack of responsibility... hopefully.

He knew he was not responsible, he never was before. How can you learn to be responsible if there was a hundred percent chance that his subordinates wouldn't get hurt in his presence anyway? It was unfair, what did Tsunade expect of him, anyway? To give them advice, rather than make them stronger? To tell them to always protect the ones they loved? Everyone was supposed to know all that by now…

He was their back-up, so to say. He was leaping from tree branch to tree branch many feet behind his teammates. Their mission was to head for a small Village and protect it from so-called 'dangerous' Shinobis… Naruto knew they were all probably Genin Level, since the Village they had to protect was a non-Shinobi Village. But still, there was a small chance there were strong Shinobis there… And one could always hope, right?

Naruto sniffed the air and had noticed that he was closing in on Hanabi, Toji and Ujin. 'They arrived in the Village already, it seems… Perhaps they'll be under attack immediately…' Naruto thought as he increased his speed.

**There Where When is Now, Book 3**

Chapter 10: Constricting Complications

"What are your intentions in this Village?" A woman with long black hair asked. It was odd seeing someone ask them their intentions so far away from the actual gates of the small Village they were needed in. Especially since they were still in the forest right now.

Toji and Ujin proved to the woman they were from the Leaf, while Hanabi was observing the woman. 'Her clothes are torn at some parts… She has a menacing glare and she doesn't seem to be a normal Villager… She seems more like a Shinobi to me…'

"I see… So you three are supposed to be dealing with the Shinobis threatening this Village, huh?" The black-haired woman said as she glared the three children down as she folded her arms.

Toji and Ujin frowned. "You think we're not good enough?" Toji said. "We'll prove it to you!"

The woman smirked and nodded her head towards something the three rookie Chuunins didn't know. "Please do so…" Suddenly, a large group of thugs jumped out of bushes and trees. "This Village is to be ours! You Leaf Shinobi shouldn't interfere and let us build a new Village! The Village as it is now is weak and needs to be rid of the weaklings. Those fools really expect to be protected…"

Toji and Ujin jumped backwards, while Hanabi calmly activated her Byakugan. 'There are even more hiding…'

"You three are still brats! We will beat you up and show your battered bodies to the Village!" The woman, obviously the leader, barked. "To show them that nothing can save them!"

Toji nervously grabbed both his swords and Ujin his staff. "We are Konoha Chuunins… We will not go down easily…" Ujin said as he wielded his staff.

Hanabi grinned. "Idiots, you don't know what you're up against. I am a Hyuga and I will show you how to fight properly."

The woman shook her head. "Oh? Konoha Chuunins, huh? And a Hyuga, too… How interesting… I was a Jounin when I ran away from the Mist…" The woman suddenly made a large sword appear in her right hand, it was metal mostly, but it was also surrounded by purple Chakra. "Ever heard of the Seven Swordsmen from the Mist? Well, one of them was actually a woman…" The woman turned to Toji. "So, you also use swords, huh? Let's see who wields them best!"

'No, I can see she's a lot more skilled with her sword than I am with mine…' Toji quickly performed a few hand seals very quickly as he saw the woman ready her sword. "Karm no Jutsu!!"

The eyes of the woman widened at the strange technique, but she jumped out of the way easily. The same could not be said of a few of her men. 'What kind of technique was that?'

"Ujin! Toji! You two will keep this woman busy while I take on the crowd!" Hanabi ordered when she ran away from the two boys. 'Naruto-san, are you watching?'

Toji and Ujin nodded to each other and faced the woman. "Ah, the Hyuga girl might be able to bring down many of my men, since most of them are weak, but there are still many of them… You two however, will have no chance against me…"

"Mikazuki no Mai!!" Toji screamed.

The woman was in awe as she saw a Chuunin perform a High-levelled technique. She did easily parry the attack away anyway, as she used her sword to block against all two illusions and the real Toji. Ujin was already running at her as Toji was knocked away. "Rakurai no Jutsu!!"

The woman jumped away from every lighting bolt Ujin threw at her. 'These two are pretty good, performing techniques like these… They're at least Jounin Level Techniques!' The woman then performed seals herself. "Mizu Bunshin. Let's see if you can defeat my Water Clone…"

Ujin smirked. "Shinjutsu, Keiketsu no Jutsu!!"

The woman frowned as hundreds of acupuncture needles came at her and her Water Clone. She managed to get away, but her Water Clone wasn't as fortunate. The woman frowned. "You're pretty good for a Chuunin…"

The woman noticed a Chakra rise close by and saw the Hyuga girl perform a technique. She was impressed as she heard what kind of technique it was…

"Kuchiyose Kabashira!!"

She watched as Hanabi made hundreds of Killer Bees appear and attack her subordinates. She immediately performed a few hand seals. "Suiton, Suijinheki!" She protected her man with a barrier of water and got rid of the bees. She smirked as Hanabi glared at her.

It was then that Toji decided to attack. "Karm no Jutsu!!"

The woman stepped aside and analyzed the attack a bit more thoroughly as it flew past her. 'It has all elements in it… It's difficult to control that… He's an impressive Chuunin too…' The woman also noticed that the Chuunin girl was easily handling her men. The woman shook her head and performed many hand seals. "I have to admit you guys are pretty good, but when things get serious, you all are nothing!! Suiton, Hanrai Suigai!!"

Ujin's eyes widened as the huge tidal wave the woman had just created out of nowhere was descending upon him. Ujin then got grabbed from underneath the tidal wave by someone quick. The woman narrowed her eyes at the newcomer. 'He's faster than these two kids…'

Toji looked as the tidal wave hit the ground and washed away. 'That was a close one… Ujin would've been hit right on if it weren't for Naruto…'

Naruto released Ujin and gazed the situation over. 'Toji attacked the woman first and got knocked away… Ujin attacked after him and then she created the Tidal Wave… that was one of Kisame's moves, too!' Naruto thought, before he looked a bit farther ahead and spotted Hanabi. 'Hanabi will do just fine against those weak Shinobis… She won't get hit because of her Byakugan…'

Just in case, Naruto created an Advanced Clone and sent him off to help Hanabi. He then faced the woman. "Who are you? You must be from the Mist."

The woman grinned. "You're also a Chuunin, judging from the vest you're wearing."

Naruto frowned. "Mist Shinobis and their manners… Just answer the question!"

The woman tilted her head. "Kasumi. Hoshigaki Kasumi."

Naruto blinked. "You're related to Kisame?" Naruto narrowed her eyes at the woman's face. 'They're not at all alike… She's… pretty.'

The woman frowned and glared at Naruto. "Who are you?"

'I'd better not talk too much… Toji, Ujin and Hanabi might hear something that they shouldn't hear.' Naruto sighed. "The name's Uzumaki Naruto, I fought Hoshigaki Kisame." Naruto said. 'Not entirely true, but I did train with Kisame…'

Kasumi narrowed her eyes. "You fought him? And you're still alive? You must be lying!" She paused. "It doesn't matter; I was always stronger than my little brother!"

"Toji, Ujin. I'll deal with the woman, you two help Hanabi out!" Naruto ordered. As they ran towards Hanabi, Kasumi wanted to knock them back, but Naruto knocked Kasumi backwards with his Chakra. "Your fight is with me…" Naruto whispered. 'If she's stronger than Kisame, she can easily kill Hanabi, Ujin and Toji… I have to be careful.'

Kasumi gathered her Chakra. "You're good… You're definitely Jounin Level…"

Naruto nodded his head. "You're a missing-nin… You also have a big sword… Like Momochi Zabuza and Hoshigaki Kisame…"

"You know many things…" Kasumi gripped her big sword tightly. "I was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist… I heard Zabuza was killed many years ago…"

Naruto nodded his head. "Yes, I was still a Genin back then… I witnessed his death. Gatou was the one responsible for his death, but Gatou's dead, too." Naruto paused to gather a lot of Chakra. "Let's begin."

Kasumi nodded her head, before she disappeared. Naruto chuckled. "Idiot! My nose is too good and I can easily keep up with the speed you're now moving in." Naruto said as he easily threw a few Shurikens towards Kasumi, who was barely able to dodge. She landed in front of Naruto again.

"Your men are almost all down, Kasumi-san." Naruto said. "Give up and let us return you back to the Mist."

"Back to the Mist? Are you insane? You haven't beaten me by a long shot!" Kasumi screamed. Naruto easily dodged Kasumi's sword as she appeared next to him. Naruto leaped backwards with Kasumi in hot pursuit. Kasumi was puzzled to see Naruto grin. "Juushin no Jutsu!!"

Kasumi's eyes widened as she felt herself being pulled towards Naruto. 'What the…?!'

The next thing she felt was extreme pain in her stomach as Naruto could easily land a blow on her. She landed harshly, but stood back up immediately. "What was that?!"

Naruto smiled as he slowly walked towards the black-haired Kasumi. "It's all about gravity, this technique of mine… I add the effect the earth has on all things to my body, but I am only able to pick a limited amount of objects to pull towards me."

Kasumi nodded. "I see, but it won't succeed twice!" She immediately performed a few hand seals. "Suiton, Suiryuudan no Jutsu!!"

Naruto smiled as he watched the huge water dragon being formed above Kasumi. 'Maybe I can see if my Bloodline Limit is activated already…'

Naruto focused as the water dragon approached. Kasumi smirked as the Water Dragon washed Naruto through many trees. "Gotcha!"

As the water washed away, Naruto could be seen sitting against a half-broken tree. 'Damn… It didn't work…' Naruto thought as he coughed water out. He jumped back up and showed Kasumi that he was practically unharmed, next to being soaking wet. "Heh, let's continue!!"

Kasumi narrowed her eyes and noticed that the three other Chuunins had managed to defeat every single member of her little gang… 'Damn, I have to face three Konoha Chuunins now… But the blonde seems to be a lot stronger than even an ordinary Jounin… This is too dangerous…'

Kasumi heard Naruto utter the words "Taiyuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Kasumi's intentions were to run, but when she saw the entire forest filled with Shadow Clones, she was impressed.

"Uzumaki Naruto… You defeated my little brother, didn't you?" Kasumi asked.

"Easily, too." Naruto answered with a grin, before he ran for Kasumi.

* * *

He had heard what mission Neji and Naruto had received and he couldn't help but feel envious of them. Here he was, stuck with Hinata, Ino and Chouji in a Village far away from the Leaf, even beyond the borders of the Wave Country. It was a new Shinobi Village and the Leaf was apparently interested in signing a treaty with them. It was just a beginning Village, so Chuunins would be sufficient if they proved to be a threat rather than an ally.

They had just gotten past the Wave Country, after stopping for food and water. Sasuke was glad his teammates weren't tired, they would be even more useless if they were, he figured. Sasuke's thoughts once again drifted off towards the difficulties his own Bloodline Limit brought him… 'Amaterasu…'

"Sasuke-kun. We've arrived at the sea…" Ino said as she landed on a small beach, followed by the others.

Sasuke nodded. "This is good… Hokage-sama told me this new Village is supposed to be ALL of the islands close to the Wave Country… Let's find out…"

The other three nodded and followed Sasuke as he hopped over the water easily.

It took them a small ten minutes to find the first island. "I sense Chakra…" Sasuke began, before he turned to Hinata.

Hinata nodded and knew the unspoken question that Sasuke had. "Byakugan!!" A small pause. "Yes. I can see the entire island, it isn't that big… There are no houses around, only a small group of people around a fire… it seems they're… partying…"

Sasuke nodded in disappointment. "Very well. Let's head to the next Island."

After three hours, they had come across most islands and finally found the one where the new Village's main buildings were located at. Sasuke moved forward with Ino, Chouji and Hinata following. Two guards were standing in front of the Gates. 'Damn, these guys are barely stronger that the average Genin…' Sasuke thought. "We come from the Leaf. We are here to see the… leader of this new Village."

The two guards looked at each other. "Why should we believe you are from the Leaf?"

Hinata stepped forward and handed a scroll from the Fifth Hokage over to one of the guards. The guard read through it and nodded his head. "Very well, no one knows the name of our… Kage, except for your Hokage… You're allowed to go through."

As they went past the Gates, they stood face to face with three Shinobis. "We will escort you to our leader."

An hour later, Sasuke was annoyed as hell. They had spend all day trying to find the damn Village and had actually expected a fight, but they were peaceful and signed a treaty easily. So now they were on their way back again.

* * *

Neji was disappointed as he stared down at his mission. His teammates were somehow satisfied with themselves, at which Neji frowned. 'Morons… These idiots were barely stronger than Genins… Why are they so proud for beating them?' Neji thought as he stared at two 'Hunter-nins.' Rumour was that two Hunter-nins were roaming the lands of the Fire Country. Neji was thrilled, because Hunter-nins were usually stronger than even ANBU Captains… But these two…

Neji shook his head and walked away. "Let's return… This has been a waste of my time…"

Kiba and Sakura nodded their heads and followed. Ten-Ten didn't go with them on this mission, because she was also a Jounin Instructor and was busy most of the time.

"Oy, Neji! You're going to take the Jounin Exams too, right?" Kiba asked. "It is said everyone has to take it individually… Do you know more about it?"

Neji shook his head. "No, I don't."

"Actually, I do." Sakura said as she jumped in between Neji and Kiba. "Shikamaru told Ino about it, and Ino told me. Yes, everyone has to do all tests individually. But there will be tests where you won't be alone… Not really help, but more of a hindrance… Shikamaru had to escort Ninja Students through the Forest of Death, while constantly being attacked by Elite Chuunins and rookie Jounins. But there are also many paper tests…"

Kiba sighed. "Man, will there be one on one fights?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, that's the final test. To see your strength."

Kiba chuckled. "Perfect! Except if we have to fight Naruto, that is… I couldn't even beat his Clones…" Kiba said as he scratched his head, while Akamaru barked. "Well, we did manage to hit them, but some Chuunin interrupted the fight… And I was just about to use Soutourou too…"

* * *

Naruto and Neji were walking through the quiet streets of Konoha and slowly approaching the Gates. Sasuke was busy training at home and didn't want to come with them.

The guards saw Neji and Naruto and simply let them through. Once they were outside of the Leaf, Neji and Naruto could talk more openly and they were glad Sasuke hadn't come with them.

"I miss them. I even miss Itachi…" Naruto said as the two of them walked through the Forest around Leaf Village. "I wonder what they're doing right now…"

Neji sighed. "When the time comes and when we're ANBU or Jounin… We might have to attack them, capture them and even… kill them. Sasuke is going for the Hunter-nin title and he'll definitely hunt for Itachi once he achieves it. You and I are two of the few people who can actually find and take on S-Class Criminals…"

Naruto nodded. "I know, I know." He paused. "Hey, Neji. I found out about my father… and my Bloodline Limit."

Neji frowned. "You have a Bloodline Limit? But you're already this strong…"

"Well…" Naruto turned serious as he gazed at Neji. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

Neji nodded. "I promise."

"My father was the Fourth, Neji, the Yondaime himself!" Naruto whispered. "I can't believe it, but Kakashi told me this a few days ago…"

Neji's eyes were widened a great deal. "Your father was the Fourth Hokage… Man, he's also the one that sealed the Kyuubi inside of you…" Neji got over his shock and smiled. "So actually, he gave you a terrific gift… The powers of a Demon…"

Naruto frowned. "Perhaps, but that also made my childhood hell… I was hated by everyone, while I was Yondaime's son!"

Neji shook his head. "What matters is what happens in the long run… Almost everyone in this Village respects you now…"

"After hating me…" Naruto added. "It's just not fair, you know? They hate me my entire life, but now that they 'acknowledge' me, I should just forgive them for it?"

Neji sighed. "Life is rarely fair, Naruto…" Neji paused. "But what about that Bloodline Limit, Naruto?"

"It's called Icchoudouka… Temporarily Assimilation… It's supposed to make me have an absolute defense and offense at the same time… But I don't know how to activate it… Since you're a Hyuga and a Genius at that, perhaps you can help me?" Naruto asked.

"Temporarily Assimilation…" Neji pondered. "It's difficult, but care to explain more?"

Naruto nodded. "Kakashi explained to me that if someone would use a Fire Jutsu on me, my entire body would change into fire so I would absorb the attack and make myself stronger. I would absorb the Chakra used for the attack and make it my own. The same goes for water, electricity and ice. Even Sand, Stone and Wind…"

Neji nodded his head. "I see… So you're entire body adjusts to the attack used against you? That's complicated… But it means you'll have to reform all your cells and an adjustment like that must take a LOT of Chakra… I think practicing it will help… I can use Rakurai en Hyouketsu on you, if you want?"

Naruto smiled. "Well, thanks… I'm honoured you want to hurt me to help me, Neji!"

* * *

"Lee-sensei!"

Lee turned around to see Toji and Ujin slowly walking towards him. He was on his way to the Hokage Tower after seeing the little bird behind his window, telling him to report to her. "Toji-san, Ujin-san! How are you two doing?"

"I'm doing great! I know a new attack thanks to Naruto-san!" Toji answered happily as he and Ujin stood next to Lee.

"Naruto-san? He's training you?" Lee asked.

"Yes. He is the leader of our Chuunin Team. Me, Toji and Hanabi are in it. He taught me the Rakurai no Jutsu." Ujin answered. "It's an excellent Jutsu."

Lee nodded. "Naruto-kun… I'll have to challenge him soon! Taking my students like this!!" Lee said. "How is Hanabi seeing him as the leader?"

"It's strange, but she's actually respecting him!" Toji said. "Hanabi usually doesn't respect anyone!"

Lee pouted. 'Damn you, Naruto-kun! I wanted the respect of the Hyuga heir!'

"Lee-san!"

Lee, Toji and Ujin turned their heads to see a pink-haired Chuunin approaching. "Sakura-san!" Lee yelled. 'Finally! She sees I am her soulmate after all!!'

Sakura stopped in front of Lee. "Lee-san, I wanted to ask you if you could help me with my training for the upcoming Jounin Exam."

Toji and Ujin were both staring at Sakura and nodded to each other. They both made sure they weren't drooling, even the serious Ujin.

"Of course, Sakura-san! But I have to report to Hokage-sama before I can help you! Forgive me!" Lee said. "I promise you I will help you!" He finished, doing the 'nice guy'-pose.

Sakura smiled and nodded, before she turned towards the blushing Toji and Ujin, who had diverted his gaze to the ground. "Thank you. Who are these two?"

"Oh! They were my students! Gekkou Toji and Morino Ujin! Right now they are in the same team as Uzumaki Naruto-kun!"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, so I've heard…" She turned to Toji and Ujin. "Naruto is a pervert! Be careful you don't turn out to be just like him!" Sakura said, remembering Naruto's reaction to her Bikini no Jutsu…

Toji and Ujin quickly nodded their heads and ran away.

* * *

Sasuke, Naruto and Neji were slowly walking towards the training grounds of the Leaf Village, when they noticed Ino, Ten-Ten and Kiba training there. They watched them train, or talk, as they approached.

"Kiba, you bastard!! Give my sword back!!" Ino screamed. Neji, Sasuke and Naruto winced as the high pitched scream reached their ears.

'Heh, must be extra painful for Naruto and Kiba, since their hearing is a lot better…' Neji thought.

"Hey! We're sparring, right? It's you and Ten-Ten versus me!! You can't beat me!" Kiba boasted as he and Akamaru jumped through the air.

Ten-Ten was throwing Kunais and Shurikens at Kiba, but Kiba was too fast and dodged them all. Ten-Ten then did her Chakra version of the Soushouryu and Neji and Naruto watched at the beautiful display of Blue Chakra dancing through the air. Kiba screamed in pain as he was cut a few times. He was forced to release the sword. As Ino was ready to catch it, Akamaru quickly grabbed it in mid-air with his mouth. Ino gritted her teeth and performed a few seals while she looked at Kiba.

"Shinranshin no Jutsu!!"

Kiba nervously gulped, because the Chakra Ino sent was headed towards where he was going to land… 'Shit…'

Akamaru hadn't noticed and threw the sword back to his master. To the dog's confusion, his master threw the sword back to Ino. Ino released the Jutsus and evilly chuckled. As Kiba turned back to his normal self, many Kunais were approaching him, courtesy of Ten-Ten… He managed to jump away.

Sasuke, Naruto and Neji entered the clearing and smiled. "Hmm, these guys have become really good." Naruto said. "I always figured Kiba would stay weak."

"Hey, I heard that!" Kiba screamed. "How about a match, Naruto? To prepare for the Jounin Exam?"

Naruto smiled. "Hmm, you just want to see what my techniques are! You cheap bastard!"

Neji shook his head, while Kiba gritted his teeth. "Hah! Who would be interested in your lame techniques? All you do is use your boring Kage Bunshin!"

Naruto pouted, but then smiled again. "Heh, you wish you could use Shadow Clones! Anyway, what about a little game? Teams of two and we'll do it kinda like Kakashi-sensei did."

Sasuke frowned at his ex-teammate. "What do you mean?"

"Bells." Naruto said as he grabbed many bells out of his pocket. "Each of us carries three bells and in teams of two we try to snatch bells from another. He… uhm, or she, who has the most bells wins!"

"Idiot. You mean the team who has the most bells wins." Sasuke corrected. "It's a stupid game, but it would be fair if we make the teams equal…"

Neji nodded his head. "So, who with who?"

Sasuke analyzed everyone around him. "Hm, leave it to me to figure the teams out, huh?" He said a bit annoyed. "Anyway, Ino with Naruto." Sasuke said. 'I don't want Ino with me… She'll just keep asking me about the Kusanagi sword.' Sasuke continued. "Ten-Ten with Neji and me and Kiba." Sasuke finished. 'Kiba's senses will be useful to me and we'll definitely win… That blockhead isn't smart and I don't really know what Ten-Ten's specialties are…'

Neji nodded. "Good. Hand out the bells, Naruto." Neji said, on which Naruto began throwing bells to everyone.

Everyone had three bells hanging from their pants. Naruto turned to Ino. "Ne, Ino-chan, let's go and hide!" He then turned towards the others. "You won't get my bells!"

The others simply snorted. "You better hand them over now and save yourself the embarrassment!" Kiba said, before he turned to Sasuke, who was already leaping towards a tree. "Hey, wait up, you stuck up!"

Neji and Ten-Ten looked at each other. "This will be a piece of cake… Unlike them, we've already worked together before."

Ten-Ten nodded. "Let's hide, Neji!"

* * *

Naruto and Ino were hiding in a tree and checked their surroundings. Naruto already knew where everyone was and just in case created a few Shadow Clones to transform themselves into bells and hung all of them on his waist, beside the three real bells... 'That'll confuse them…'

"Hey, Naruto…" Ino began. No one had really thanked Naruto for his participation in the Akatsuki War yet and one of the reasons was because Naruto was always on the move, another was he was the one doing the talking. Everyone knew the Fourth Hokage and everyone had to admit that Naruto really looked a lot like him. But his attitude was still somewhat… childish… and annoying, of course. "I, uh, I just wanted you to know that everyone knows about your childhood and the Kyuubi…"

Naruto sighed. "I think you had to be blind to not see the great powerful Kyuubi turn into me…"

Ino continued. "Almost everyone has a terrible experience… I mean, look at Sasuke and the murder of his entire clan. Lee and his constant failures, up to the point where he almost had to stop his life as a Shinobi. Neji and his conflict with his family. No one ever thought you had it even worse than all others… Because you were never sad, always happy and pulling pranks… It just seems weird that you could live like that…"

Naruto chuckled. "Well, I lived through it. No worries anymore, right?" Naruto paused and sighed. "But thanks for realizing… and caring… How about you? You have a terrible experience?"

"More than you can think of! And I do not want to talk about with you!" Ino said as she focused more and looking at her surroundings.

Naruto pouted. "Why not me?"

"Because you're a pervert! When I performed my Gurabiaay no Jutsu, you were down in seconds!" Ino reacted.

"Hey, hey! Don't yell, they'll hear us…" Naruto said, quickly changing the subject. "We have to win this, Ino-chan…"

"Yeah… So, how do we do this, Naruto?" Ino asked. "I mean, Kiba has his advanced senses and Neji has his Byakugan, so they can easily sneak upon us…"

Naruto smiled. "You forget, my senses are probably better than Kiba's… The real question is… How we do trick them?"

Ino smiled back. "If we distract them enough, I can use my Shintenshin on them."

Naruto grinned. "Great!! Then I'll go attack Sasuke and Kiba, because they're approaching us…" Ino tensed up, while Naruto just grinned in amusement.

* * *

It was so sudden, so frightening, but at the same time... so exciting…

There they were, ambushing Naruto and Ino, when Naruto suddenly exploded through the ground underneath them. Kiba didn't even smell him, so he couldn't react properly when Naruto kicked him backwards. Sasuke blocked Naruto's other foot and gave a kick himself. But Naruto had already leaped backwards and smelled Kiba approach him from behind. But exactly at that time, hundreds of Chakra Kunais were entering the fighting ground…

Naruto, Akamaru and Sasuke both jumped away from the approaching Chakra Weapons Ten-Ten threw at them, while Kiba simply stopped advancing and got attacked by Neji.

Naruto and Sasuke went into a little skirmish, exchanging punches and kicks, but never getting a hit in. Both were moving at very high speed and it was a motion of hit and pull away. But both were smirking as they ignored the others and they weren't even bothering to try and get each other's bells…

Kiba was putting all his efforts in dodging Neji's punches, while he let Akamaru attack Neji. Kiba jumped backwards and performed a few Sankontessous, which missed their target as Neji jumped away too. Kiba chuckled as he crouched and uttered. "Gekido, Kyouran Kougeki!!"

Neji watched in interest as he saw Kiba literally went animalistic… His Chakra fluctuated on several parts on his body, but Neji could tell Kiba was a lot more powerful and faster now. 'This must also be a technique of his Bloodline Limit… Interesting…'

Kiba disappeared from view, but Neji could still follow and dodged any incoming attacks from Kiba and Akamaru, now with a bit more effort…

Meanwhile, Ten-Ten was observing everyone, until she felt a sudden rush inside her body… She watched in shock as her own hands grabbed the bells hanging from her waist and threw them towards a bush nearby. Coming out of the bush, Ino caught the bells and gave Ten-Ten the thumbs-up. "Thank you, Ten-Ten!"

Because Ten-Ten had an excellent Chakra Control, she easily forced Ino's control out. "I'll force you to give my bells back and make you give your bells too!" She said as she began firing off her weapons.

A little bit farther away, Sasuke could be seen skidding across the ground, with one bell less… He grumbles as he rose from the ground to stare at Naruto. 'That damn dead-last…' Sasuke closed his eyes and reopened them, revealing his Bloodline Limit. "Sharingan!!"

Naruto smirked. "Come on, Sasuke!"

Sasuke performed a few seals. "Katon, Karyu Endan!!"

Naruto sighed and concentrated on the attack coming towards him. 'Fire… Think Fire, Become Fire!!'

Sasuke frowned as his attack hit Naruto fully. 'What is that idiot doing?'

As he stopped breathing fire out, Sasuke waited to see the outcome. He sweatdropped as he saw Naruto lying on the ground several meters away from his original spot. 'He just… took the attack?'

"Damn it!! It still didn't work!!" Naruto screamed as he gritted his teeth. He immediately performed a few hand seals. "Rakurai no Jutsu!!"

Sasuke dodged every lightning bolt Naruto threw at him and in the meantime returned the same technique back towards Naruto… "Rakurai no Jutsu!!"

Lightning bolts were flying around, but neither of them were hit once… 'Perhaps I should try again…' Naruto thought. He purposely let one lighting bolt hit him, but he was blown backwards again…

The day before, he had tried it with Neji, but he had failed there, too… 'Damn annoying Bloodline Limit…' Naruto thought as he jumped up and faced Sasuke again.

'What is that idiot doing? He's just letting himself get hit…' Sasuke thought, utterly confused. After he shrugged, he released another Fire Technique. "Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!!"

Naruto jumped to avoid the Fire Balls and blocked Sasuke's foot and fist in mid-air as Sasuke appeared beside him. He returned the attack with his own fist and sent Sasuke flying backwards.

As Sasuke landed securely, he watched Naruto chuckle with another bell in his hands. Sasuke dropped his gaze to his waist and noticed Naruto just grabbed another bell… 'Damn it…'

"We already have 11 bells!" Naruto said happily as he looked over at Ino, who was dodging Ten-Ten's weapons. "I think we're going to win this…"

* * *

TBC

Hope you liked it! Please help me! I don't know what kind of tests to make for the upcoming Jounin Exam! I have, like, three… But Jounin Exams are supposed to be real hard, so… Please help me! I think you figured out a few pairings already…


	11. Reunited Power

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Author's Note: Sorry for the late update, but I just felt like… doing nothing at all for a week or so… Maybe longer. Neway, here's the next chapter! Alright, there's a timejump here!! This is a few weeks later, so the Jounin Exams are VERY close!! Now that I've seen how a fully developed Sharingan works, I'll have to check the fights in the previous chapters… Not to mention Naruto's awesome Chakra! But I don't think that'll be a real problem. I've skimmed through some fights of this book and saw that it wasn't really that bad, since Sasuke only fought opponents who were REALLY fast or VERY tricky. Oh well, here's the chapter!

* * *

Remembering where it all began made him smile a bit. He had been ignored by everyone until he became Genin. Then, Umino Iruka acknowledged him and in a way, helped him in becoming a true Shinobi. A little later, Hatake Kakashi actually paid attention to him and, although a little slower, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura noticed him. Konohamaru and Inari, younger than him, actually looked up to him. He was respected by the powerful Shinobi Haku and acknowledged by the known missing-nin Momochi Zabuza.

The Chuunin Exam showed him that he was still just a noisy brat in the eyes of the villagers in Konoha. Everyone knew Uchiha Sasuke, but not him. Defeating Inuzuka Kiba was a small step compared to defeating the genius Hyuga Neji. Gaining the upper hand against Gaara where Sasuke couldn't, brought him joy. And then proving to Tsunade he was no ordinary Shinobi by mastering the Rasengan in two weeks made him even happier.

The next Chuunin Exam that came up was wonderful. He had become friends with Hyuga Neji and Gaara and defeated Gaara in the finals; Gaara, who had beaten Neji and Neji, who had beaten Sasuke. After that, things changed drastically. Uchiha Itachi came into view. Training them and making them reach that, which their potential allowed, as fast as possible. They had become stronger than them in years and were still growing now. Hyuga Neji was the strongest Hyuga, while Gaara and Naruto were probably the strongest Shinobis ever…

So now, as Chuunins resuming their lives, they're the strongest in Konoha. And they were respected by almost everyone…

**  
  
  
There Where When is Now, Book 3  
**Chapter 11: Reunited Power

  
  
  
"Say WHAT!?!?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head nervously as he looked straight into a very enraged face. 'Naruto could easily knock me out right now.' Kakashi realized.

Naruto slightly growled as he balled his fists and was shooting Kunais with his glare. "So after all this time you tell me I need to do hand seals to activate my Bloodline Limit?!"

Kakashi hesitantly chuckled and nodded his head at the same time. "Yup! I forgot to mention that to you… But remember, I've only seen the Fourth use it once, and I didn't have the Sharingan back then either, so I don't remember the hand seals."

"What?!?!" Naruto screeched angrily. "I need hand seals, but you don't know which ones?" Naruto's next sigh held lots of irritation. "Jiraiya knows! But he's out of the village, right?"

Kakashi's nod infuriated him a little further. "He should be back soon."

Naruto nodded. "Hmph! This is not funny, Kakashi-sensei! These last few weeks I've endured a lot of pain trying to activate my Bloodline Limit!"

Kakashi nodded his understanding. "Naruto, you know the Jounin Exams are close, right? You realize you might need to study for it, instead of training for it."

Naruto's mouth twitched. "I know, Kakashi-sensei! Sakura-chan has been helping me with it these last few weeks!" Naruto smiled. "It's not fun, but it's necessary, right?"

Kakashi nodded. "Alright, since you've been studying, how about a little sparring match?"

Naruto grinned widely. "Alright!!"

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was walking up a waterfall and had two Chidoris in both his palms at the same time. Next to that, he also had a big boulder tied onto his back. Finally, from above, Hyuga Neji was using all kinds of Jutsus against him, including electricity techniques, forcing Sasuke to jump off of the water at times.

'My Sharingan can see the next move, but even then, I need to work on my body's speed and improve my insight… Too much is too much, after all…' Sasuke thought as his Sharingan noticed about five lightning bolts coming at him from all directions, offering him no escape. 'If my Sharingan shows me I can't avoid getting hit, what do I do?'

Neji smirked as he watched Sasuke take the smallest Lightning bolt to the chest. 'His Sharingan is impressive indeed. But my Senshin-Byakugan shows me the best way to attack my opponent. Even a fully developed Sharingan can't escape easily from that…' Neji observed. 'Fighting a fully developed Sharingan improves my Senshin-Byakugan even further…'

* * *

Sakura and Ino were slowly walking towards the training grounds, even when they heard all kinds of explosions around. They were used to explosions ever since Naruto, Neji and Sasuke had returned.

Flying Kakashis however, was not something they saw every day… The grey-haired men landed right in front of the two women, on his back. One disappearing, proving to the girls it was a Shadow Clone.

Looking up from the ground, the real Kakashi immediately winked at the two females. "Yo!"

Sakura and Ino both shook their head. "Kakashi-sensei, have you seen Naruto?"

"Aa, I'm training with him as we speak." Kakashi replied. "Right now, he's killing all of my Shadow Clones." He said as he nodded his head towards a huge group of Kakashis, with a huge smoke cloud in the centre.

The trio walked towards the group, watching the amount of Shadow Clones reduce to two… and then none. "Sakura-chan! Ino-chan! You two going to join us?" Naruto yelled.

Both girls shook their head. "Actually, we were wondering where you were. You were supposed to show up at the Konoha library ten minutes ago!!" Ino yelled back.

"You aren't supposed to keep girls waiting, Naruto!!" Sakura added, screaming, of course.

Naruto pouted. "But this is fun!!"

"Naruto, listen to them. Studying is important too! If you want to be Hokage, you'll have to know everything." Kakashi said as he patted the blonde haired young man on the shoulder.

"Everything sounds like a lot, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto responded. "Fine, fine, I'm coming…"

"Now, Naruto, do you remember about the subject 'Treaties'?"

Kakashi smiled as he heard Naruto groan and yell "Of course!!"

* * *

In the Hokage's Office, many Chuunins were reporting that they were ready to go to the Wind Country, where the Jounin Exams would be held. Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya were gazing at the Chuunins.

Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Kiba and Chouji were among the Chuunins that were ready to take the Jounin Exam. Tsunade gazed over their heads and told Jiraiya to travel with Naruto, while the others just travelled together towards Wind Country.

So right now, Naruto and Jiraiya were walking towards Wind Country in a slow pace.

"Naruto, I just showed you the hand seals needed for your Bloodline Limit. I can do the hand seals, but I simply don't have the blood to be able to pull it off… Now, I'm going to do a Fire technique, to see if you get it."

Naruto nodded, performed the now known hand seals and braced himself.

"I'll start with a small one. Katon, Housenka!!" Jiraiya said as he fired off several Fire balls.

Naruto watched the fire balls approach and closed his eyes. Jiraiya smiled as soon as the Fire balls hit him. And hit him hard, they did. Naruto landed on his butt and rubbed his face and stomach, where the fireballs had hit him. "Damn it, Jiraiya! It didn't work!"

Jiraiya shook his head and walked over to Naruto, who still sitting on the ground. "You did it all wrong, Naruto, you idiot!"

Naruto's eyes screamed hell as he rose to his feet. "What?! I know I did the hand seals right, you old bastard!! You gave the wrong ones, didn't you?!"

Jiraiya screamed right back. "No, you dumb brat!! You did the hand seals right, you did the other thing wrong!!"

Naruto frowned, his anger slowly seeping away. "Other thing?"

Jiraiya sighed as he folded his arms and looked in Naruto's eyes. "Look, idiot. You have an absolute defense, right? Where your Chakra protects you? You think about not wanting to get hurt and then the Chakra protects you. This time, it's the other way around. Your Bloodline Limit works only if you completely believe in yourself. The Fourth did that perfectly and you, was my first impression, too. It seems I had it wrong… You're afraid of being hit!"

"I'm not afraid!!" Naruto screamed.

Jiraiya shook his hand and held up one hand in front of Naruto's face. "Let me continue, damn it! Listen, you're supposed to be confident! Think that the attack that is heading for you won't even scratch you!! Do you understand? So when I send a massive rain of Thunderbolts upon you, think that those bolts are not strong enough to even tickle you!"

Naruto looked puzzled. "So I have to think that I'm WAY too strong to even FEEL the attack??"

Jiraiya nodded. "Yes. Now…" Jiraiya suddenly grinned. "Let's make this more interesting… Nijuu Kuchiyose no Jutsu!!"

Naruto gazed at the two frogs on each side of Jiraiya. The frogs were both slightly bigger than Jiraiya. Jiraiya turned towards Naruto. "These Toads will provide me with oil… So, the next fire attack will be pretty strong, Naruto… Are you ready?"

Naruto nodded and performed the hand seals again. Jiraiya slapped his forehead. "You idiot!!! Now you deactivated your Bloodline Limit… Always remember to deactivate it, by the way. When you're in that state, you get drained of Chakra in a faster rate…"

Naruto groaned, nodded and performed the hand seals again.

Jiraiya performed a few hand seals and yelled out. "Katon, Gamayo Endan!!" With that, the two toads blurted out a lot of oil towards Naruto, while Jiraiya released a massive wave of fire… The fire joined the oil and together they formed a destructive force…

Naruto narrowed his eyes. 'This attack is nothing… I am Uzumaki Naruto, damn it!!'

The next thing that happened was very strange… Naruto felt the fire attack wash through him and he could see the fire dance around him as it soared past him. 'This is… This is awesome!!' Next to that, Naruto also felt that he was gaining Chakra… 'I love my Bloodline Limit!!'

As the Fire dissipated, Naruto stared at Jiraiya and grinned one of the biggest grin he had ever grinned. "It worked, Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya nodded. "Heh, it's been a while since I've seen that… Do you realise what just happened, Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged. "I.. uhmm, absorbed? The attack, I guess."

Jiraiya chuckled. "You yourself, your entire body turned into fire, Naruto… It was an impressive sight…"

Naruto's eyes widened. 'I turned into fire myself?' Naruto's hands started twitching uncontrollably. Never one to hold back when it came to excitement, Naruto screamed out. "OH HELL YEAH!!!!"

Jiraiya tapped Naruto on the shoulder. "Oy, Naruto. One thing is very important. You NEED to deactivate your Bloodline Limit too, remember? I know you just gained a lot of Chakra from my Fire attack, but as it is now, it's still draining you from Chakra."

Naruto nodded and performed the Uzumaki hand seals, as Naruto called them now and deactivated his Bloodline Limit. "Yosh!! I am ready to kick everybody's ass now!!"

Jiraiya and Naruto continued towards the Wind Country, before they said their farewells to the two Toads Jiraiya had summoned.

* * *

The two of them were just training when they noticed that their little brother was suddenly walking away from the training grounds they were on. The two followed him, because Gaara was next in the little sparring match they were having.

"What's wrong, Gaara? Where are you going, you do know you are next against me, right?" Temari said as she followed her little brother along with Kankurou.

Gaara turned his head towards his siblings. "An old friend is approaching… I can sense his Chakra…" Gaara smiled. "Uzumaki Naruto is nearing our Village…"

Temari and Kankurou looked at each other and smiled. They both knew that Naruto was a good friend of Gaara and it was only natural that Gaara missed him.

"Hyuga Neji, too, is approaching… I can sense him now…" Gaara continued. "It looks like they're going to take the Jounin Exam as well… This will be very interesting…"

"Heh, you better make it interesting, little brother. We are to examine and observe you." Kankurou said. "The tests are not easy… it's not all about power anymore…"

Gaara frowned at his older brother. "Don't worry… I'll become a Jounin." Gaara paused. "But right now, I'm leaving to greet an old friend…"

Temari and Kankurou both laughed a small laugh as Gaara dissipated into sand. "Gaara has changed so much, hasn't he, Kankurou?"

Kankurou nodded. "Yes. This is better. But he's still somewhat… dangerous…"

"As a Shinobi should always be." Temari added.

* * *

"Reporting as commanded, Kazekage-sama!"

Shikamaru lazily gazed at the reporting Lee beside him and watched Ten-Ten shake her head, while Shino was just standing there. 'I heard Kakashi and Gai were going to be in this Jounin Exam as well… And next to that… I heard Jiraiya-sama was also going to be here…' Shikamaru paused in his thoughts. 'Understandable, since the Chuunins this year are very powerful… Naruto, Neji and Sasuke are WAY above Jounins…'

"Your orders starting today are simple. Keep your own in check!" Baki paused. "Or in other words… You, as Leaf Jounins, must keep an eye on the Leaf Chuunins!"

A small puff was suddenly heard throughout the room.

"Yo!"

Shikamaru slowly shook his head with a smile on his face. 'Always late, he is…'

Next to Kakashi, stood Kurenai, Anko and Gai. Gai was shooting a pleading look towards the Kazekage. "Kazekage-sama! It is Kakashi's fault we were late! When I wanted to leave Konoha, this lazy bum was still in his bed!!"

Baki frowned at the two older Jounins. "I know of Hatake Kakashi's… problem. I did a few missions with him after our Villages became allies again. It is no problem. I am sure you know what your orders are?"

The elite Jounins all nodded, while Gai added a thumbs up and a smile. The seven Leaf Jounins moved out of the Kazekage's office.

* * *

Jiraiya felt a chill run down his spine as he felt an enormous Chakra approach him and Naruto. He looked over at Naruto, who was carrying a very wide grin on his face. 'He's probably overjoyed with the fact that he finally activated his Bloodline Limit.' Jiraiya smiled, before he spoke up. "Oy, Naruto! Someone's heading our way…"

Naruto's response was close to immediate. "I know, I know! It's Gaara, Jiraiya! I haven't seen him in a long time!"

"Gaara? Are you sure?" Jiraiya asked with a frown. He didn't like the enormous Chakra.

Naruto nodded. "Yup! I don't think anyone else has a feel to his Chakra like him!"

There was no question about it when Gaara materialized in front of them. "Naruto, Jiraiya."

"Gaara!! It's been so long!!" Naruto screamed. "How are you!? I hope you've been training!!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Long time no see, Gaara!" he greeted with one small wave of his right hand.

Gaara nodded towards Jiraiya, before he faced Naruto. "I've been training. I expect you to be the only challenge for me at the Jounin Exams… Surely I wouldn't want to give you an easy victory?"

Naruto chuckled. "Oh, oh! I have a few new Jutsus and tricks, Gaara! I can't wait to show you!!"

Jiraiya interrupted before Naruto could show him anything. "Naruto, don't you think it'd be wiser to let all your new techniques be a surprise?"

Naruto pondered it for a few seconds. "Fine, fine! But I hope for your sake I'm facing Gaara during these Jounin Exams, Jiraiya! If not, I'm going to take your head!"

Gaara shook his head as he grinned. "I also have new techniques, Naruto… But as Jiraiya suggested before, I'll keep them secret for now…"

Naruto nodded his head. "So, how's life for you here in the Sand Village, Gaara?"

"People no longer run when they see me walking, but their fear for me is still big… I have found out I can live a normal life here now. I have also embraced the fact that I have precious people to protect here: my siblings, Kankurou and Temari, who seem to care for me as well."

"That's good to hear, Gaara!" Naruto happily replied. "Now, I can't wait to show everyone how strong I really am! Let's go!!"

Gaara and Jiraiya nodded, before they followed the blonde-haired young man towards the Gates of the Sand Village.

* * *

The Chuunin contestants for this Jounin Exam of the Leaf were Naruto, Neji, Sasuke, Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Kiba and Chouji. From the Sand there were Gaara and his previous Chuunin teammates Nishi Odei, Keiko Akeru and Maya Robuki. Many other Sand Chuunins, more than from the Leaf, were taking the Jounin Exams as well. Chuunins from the Stone, Grass, Rain, Mist, Waterfall and Lightning were also present.

The Jounin Exam was a very important event throughout all of the Shinobi lands. The Sound Country had fallen when their leader, Orochimaru, had left the Country to itself. With no leader, the Country was easily overpowered and destroyed by the Leaf. Where Sound Country once was, now was nothing but a huge empty field. Many Sound Shinobis survived of course, but they were accepted in other Villages, along with their Bloodline Limits…

Gaara, Naruto, Neji and Sasuke were eating together in, of course, a Ramen Stand.

"I still think the Ramen Stands in Leaf are better than this one!!"

"Would you drop it already, Naruto?" Neji uttered. "I taste no difference, so be silent about it."

Naruto frowned. "How can you NOT taste a difference?!"

Sasuke groaned. "Just enjoy your Ramen, Naruto." Sasuke turned to Gaara. "Gaara, do you have any idea what the tests are going to be like."

Gaara looked at Sasuke. "No. Nothing was told to me." Then he resumed his eating.

"Those Sand Shinobis that are taking the Jounin Exam, are they good?" Neji asked as he motioned for another bowl of Ramen.

Gaara shook his head. "No. I can tell you what their abilities are… The man controls the wind around him completely, the girl controls all bacteria around her and the other girl controls stones and she has regeneration. Nothing to worry about." He looked at Sasuke and Neji. "For you two that bacteria girl can be a hassle… But I am sure your Bloodline Limits can see the bacteria she's using with her Chakra."

Neji and Sasuke both nodded. Naruto had an automatic absolute defense, anyway.

* * *

"So, my eternal Rival, what do you think of this one?"

Kakashi shrugged as he stood next to Gai on top of one of the roofs in the Sand Village. "I only know that the Sand Storm around and in this Village is rather… annoying. But about the Jounin Exams, if we're talking about strength, there's no doubt that Naruto, Sasuke, Neji and Gaara will pass… But if it's about intelligence, I have my doubts about Naruto… I don't know Neji and Gaara that well… But Sasuke is smart enough."

"Neji is also a genius, Kakashi. He'll do fine…" Gai said. "Jounin Exams are fun… I wish I could take it all over again…"

"No, you don't. Back then it was horrible… A Jounin Exam exactly when all signs were telling everyone a storm was coming… A storm or… a war."

Gai shook his head. "You're serious when you don't have to be, and you're childish when you need to be serious… You're always like this, Kakashi… I fail to understand why, but that's why you're my eternal rival… I will understand someday! And perhaps, on that day, you will understand me as well!"

"Ah? Do I want to understand you, Gai?" Kakashi responded.

"Of course you do! I am the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha! No one understands what's going on inside my head! It infuriates you! You, being a genius!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Not really."

"Denial!"

* * *

"There are a lot of interesting Chuunins this time, right, Jiraiya-sama?" Baki asked.

Jiraiya nodded his head. "Indeed, I can't wait to see the battles."

Baki smiled. "But they need to use their brains as well. So we'll pick out the dumb from the smart first…"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Clever… Not many strong Shinobis are smart, too…"

"Correct. I know of the powerful Chuunins of the Leaf, Jiraiya-sama. I know of Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuga Neji. I am sure they're very strong… but are they intelligent?"

* * *

This Village was a lot different than their own, all three girls thought as they walked through the streets. The hard winds carried a lot of sand and the atmosphere was kind of… gloomy.

"Hinata, where were we supposed to go again?" Ino asked and yelled at the same time, holding her right hand in front of her face, so sand wouldn't get in her eyes.

Hinata was simply holding both her hands in front of her eyes, but used the Byakugan to look through her hands, so she could easily see. "We're almost there, Ino. I heard that Kurenai and Anko are sleeping in the same building."

Sakura smiled. "That's nice! I was afraid we were the only women from Konoha here!"

Ino shook her head. "Ten-Ten's here, too!"

Hinata nodded her head. "Yes, and she's approaching us from behind."

Sakura and Ino both turned to see the Leaf Jounin land in front of them. "Hiya, everyone! We're staying in the same building, Anko-san and Kurenai-san are already there. Let's go!" She said as she jumped forward.

Hinata, Ino and Sakura soon followed her, after looking at each other.

"Hey, do you know where the others are staying?" Sakura asked as she looked at Hinata.

Hinata nodded her head. "Yes, I can see them with my Byakugan, they're eating in a… Ramen Bar. But I also know where they're staying."

"Figures they're eating in a Ramen Bar… I swear, Naruto is rubbing off on all of them!" Ino said as she jumped between Hinata and Sakura.

Hinata giggled. "That's true. You two even learned a counter for his Oroike no Jutsu…"

Both Ino and Sakura blushed at that. It was, for the most part, true…

"I wonder how this Jounin Exam will turn out to be…" Sakura mused out loud. "I hope there won't be any… problems."

"Ha! With strong Shinobis like Naruto, Sasuke and Neji around?" Ino responded.

"Don't forget Gaara." Hinata added.

Ino nodded at Hinata. "Yes, there's no way anyone would try something now! No sane Shinobi at least!"

Sakura sighed. "Well, I don't think Orochimaru is sane..."

"You worry too much, forehead. We've all become strong… We're gonna beat everyone down!" Ino screamed excitedly.

Sakura and Hinata both smiled at Ino's enthusiasm. "Heh, thanks, pig."

* * *

The three Shinobis had been living with each other and each other's problems long enough to fully understand each other. And staying with the strongest Akatsuki Members sure had its benefits. But they were all still unsure of what was to happen next. Would they meet up with them again some day? Neji got along perfectly with Dareda and the now deceased Sinobi, Gaara with Kisame and Naruto with Itachi and Mokito.

"One day, we'll see them again." Neji said, as he and Naruto were following Gaara towards what seemed to be a training field. "When that time comes, I am unsure of what to do… You and me, Naruto, are Leaf Shinobi now… Our duty is capture or kill them. The Sand is now an ally to the Leaf, so you, Gaara, might be forced to do the same once you encounter one of them."

Gaara and Naruto both knew Neji was right and nodded their heads once. "I don't know if I can do that, Neji." Naruto said. "Besides, it's Sasuke's goal to hunt Itachi, right? Even though I doubt Sasuke will be strong enough to defeat him. Right now Sasuke isn't anywhere near Itachi's strength…"

Neji smiled. "Knowing Itachi, he has probably mastered the final Art of the Uchiha Clan…"

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, even when he hadn't mastered it yet, it sure hurt like hell…"

Gaara nodded his agreement. "Yes, even my absolute defense was no match for that… However, even before we conquered our demons, our powers were still greater than Itachi's…"

Naruto shrugged. "Yes, but we still had to use a bit of our Demon's Chakra back then…"

Neji sighed. "It's not only Itachi who has probably gotten stronger… Hyuga Dareda as well… And Mokito… She could be faster than Lee by now… And then there's Kisame… Who knows what happens when he uses his massive Jutsus…"

Naruto shook his head. "I wouldn't really worry about them… It's Orochimaru who really worries me… That snake bastard can hide himself well…"

"He should have another body now, too… Itachi told us how his Forbidden Jutsu works…" Neji commented, earning a snort from Naruto.

"Heh, he'll still have the same smell on him!" Naruto said.

"I'm not worrying about anything." Gaara interjected. "I have become too powerful to worry about Orochimaru and his cowardly moves… The only feeling I have is anticipation… I can't wait to fight you two… I hope you two have been training…"

Neji shrugged. "I've become stronger, but you two have conquered your demons… I don't know if I can put up a decent fight anymore… But I'll try to defeat the two of you… No one is invincible, after all…"

"We're at the training grounds… How about a last match, before the Jounin Exams?" Gaara asked with a grin.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was slowly walking home, after seeing that Gaara had to show Naruto and Neji something. Not really being interested, Sasuke decided to go home and get some good night's rest. As he turned a corner, he noticed the Sand also had Bathhouses here… Steam was carried away by the vicious and sandy winds. Just as he was passing by, he noticed something in the corner of his eye…

He narrowed his eyes, activated his Sharingan and he saw two men using a Camouflage Technique and a… strange technique which still needed to be activated. It appeared the two men were peeping…

"Oy, Kakashi, Jiraiya!" Sasuke sneered. "What do you think you two are doing?"

Both Shinobis turned around and saw the Sharingan user. Jiraiya and Kakashi both suddenly yelled. "Touton no Jutsu!!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as both Shinobis disappeared, even to his Sharingan! 'What the hell!? What was that Jutsu?'

* * *

And the day, or rather, the morning was here. Many Jounins told the Chuunins where to go and what to do. First would be Paper Tests, Second would be a Mission, Third would be battles with rules and Fourth battles without rules…

"This is just too troublesome…" Shikamaru mumbled as he looked around the room and saw nothing but overconfident Chuunins walking around, even trying to impress him with their body language. Shikamaru groaned and shook his head. He spotted Ten-Ten, Anko and Kurenai with the Chuunins Ino, Hinata and Sakura on the other side of the hall they were in. 'What kind of building is this anyway? It's bigger than the Hokage Tower, but there's still so much sand on the ground, even inside! How troublesome…'

"Well, well… If it isn't Nara Shikamaru!" A voice suddenly spoke up from behind Shikamaru. "I'm surprised to see someone as lazy as you active in the Jounin Exam?"

Shikamaru turned around to see who was speaking to him. He groaned, but a small smile came to him. "Ah, it's you."

"Yeah, it's me! The one who rescued you in the previous Jounin Exam and the one who you should thank for being able to become a Jounin!" The woman paused. "Anyway, what are you doing here? You're still wearing a Jounin Vest, so you didn't get degraded to Chuunin."

Shikamaru faked a laugh. "Very funny, Temari. But I'm just here to observe." Another snort came from the other side. Shikamaru turned. "Ah, Kankurou…" Shikamaru sighed. "You're not going to annoy me again, are you?"

Kankurou made a face and patted Shikamaru hard on the shoulder. "Of course not, Nara."

Somewhere else in the same room… "Neji! I am sure you will become Jounin! But remember this: I have bested you! I became Jounin faster than you!"

"Shut up, Lee. I can easily defeat you, so don't make me embarrass you here…" Neji reacted.

Lee pouted and faced his former sensei. "Neji! I give you the best of luck! For luck is always a part of the victory you have."

Neji frowned at Gai. "Luck? I disagree. It's confidence that will give you victory. Depending on luck is nothing but an excuse for weaklings."

Gai and Lee both pouted…

At the entrance. "There are strong Shinobis here… Can you sense the Chakra?" Anko asked Kurenai and Ten-Ten as she observed the Chuunins around her.

Kurenai nodded. "Yes, it will be difficult, because we can't do anything if the Chuunin who is doing something wrong to another Chuunin is stronger than us…"

"I'm sure they'll behave…" Ten-Ten said as she stared at Neji, who was walking away from a sad Gai and Lee. "Most of the time, anyway."

"This is going to be so much fun!! I can't wait to use my new techniques!!" Kiba screamed and Akamaru barked. "What about you, Chouji?"

Chouji nodded, still with the ever present chips bag. "Yeah! This time I won't lose even once!!"

Kiba chuckled. "Heh, we'll back each other up!"

Shino stood behind the duo and couldn't help but grin. 'This Exam will be most complicated… Shinobis like Naruto, Neji and Gaara are here… Shinobis I can not defeat… Those three will probably cause a lot of problems…'

* * *

TBC

So, what do you think???


	12. Chakra Tests

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: Alright, let the Jounin Exams begin!

* * *

The giant hall was crowded with Chuunins and Jounins and silence came when the Kazekage himself appeared out of nowhere. He eyed the Shinobis in the room and tried to sense outstanding Chakra signatures. There were many, more than he had anticipated. The real test would become bothersome, since some of the Chuunins here were stronger than the Elite Jounins from the Sand. He himself would have to help to disqualify a Chuunin if he or she would commit something that wasn't allowed.

But that was all for later, first, there will be the Scroll Test. This had never been done before during a Jounin Exam, and if it had been, there would be far less Jounins. Prove to that was that even Kakashi had just mastered the advanced Sealing Techniques. Scroll Sealing is not as hard as that, but required to start developing Advanced Sealing Techniques. He wondered if the instructions given on the papers he would give the participants would help the Chuunins taking the Jounin Exam.

He spotted the Legendary Jiraiya and nodded once towards him, to greet him. On the other side of the room, he spotted the Hunter-nins Kankurou and Temari. With behind them, a huge group of Sand Jounins. This test would be very amusing to watch. Baki turned towards one of the Sand Jounins and motioned for him to start the first part of the Jounin Exams.

**There Where When is Now, Book 3**

Chapter 12: Chakra Tests

Naruto scratched his forehead as he read the paper in his hands and grasped the scrolls which were given with it. About five question marks were flying around his head as he tried to understand and read at the same time. 'Scroll Sealing?'

A little farther away, Kakashi was smiling at this test. 'Heh, it would have been advantageous for me if they gave this test when I took the Jounin Exams… Then I would've mastered the Sealing Art a lot sooner…' Kakashi smirked as he could practically feel Naruto's confusion through the room.

Sakura had already started with the first basics. The Chuunins were allowed to try and master this for the entire day. So many Chuunins were walking out of the hall, intent on trying to master it on a training field somewhere. Naruto followed their example along with Neji, Gaara and Sasuke.

Sakura smiled as she began to study the hand seals needed to seal a Water Technique in a scroll. There seemed to be different stages, for the level of the Technique that needs to be sealed. If the Technique is weak, usually only one hand seal is needed. A medium technique needed less hand seals than the bigger techniques. Low Rank was Goui, Second Rank was Soui, Medium Rank was Doui, High Rank was Koui, and Expert Rank was Ioui. For the four most known elemental techniques, for Fire you had Fuuinka, for Water Fuuinsu, for Electricity Fuuinra and for Ice Fuuinhyo. To make it worse, it seemed that the hand seals needed for even one elemental technique differed greatly from each other.

The Test was to master at least the ability to seal four types of techniques. So that meant you had to know and memorize about twenty hand seals. There were five types of hand seals series for sealing one technique. Sakura continued to read down the paper and spotted the part of the Chakra needed to perform the Sealing. The amount Chakra you use for sealing a technique must be close to equal of the technique itself. So you must also be able to read Chakra perfectly. This could be very difficult…

Naruto was walking on his own, through the small sandstorm that was always present in Sand Village. "Hmmm… Hand Seals… I'm glad I have the Stamina to practice this a lot… I'll have to perform a technique myself and then try to seal it on one of these scrolls." Naruto said out loud as he took a look at the scrolls. "Heh! This will be easy for me!"

Naruto looked up into a tree and smiled. "Hiya, Shikamaru! So your mission is to watch me, huh?"

Shikamaru jumped out of the tree, leaned backwards against it and shook his head. "You're so troublesome, Naruto. You already have the skills for a Jounin, but I doubt if you have the brains…"

Naruto frowned. "Ah, shut up, Shikamaru! I'll do this!"

Shikamaru grinned. "This isn't easy. But I'm a little glad they didn't do this Test when I took the Jounin Exams… It would have been even more troublesome."

Naruto shook his head, did a few hand seals and a second later, a small fire was created in front of him. "Heh, let's try this!" Naruto did one hand seal. "Fuuinka Koui!"

Shikamaru slapped his forehead. "You really are dumb, ey? I'm not supposed to help you, you idiot, but you just used High Ranked Sealing on one of the smallest Fires I have ever seen! Also, you're supposed to write the exact description of the attack and draw what the technique looks like on the Scroll before you do the hand seals. Next time, finish reading first before trying to show off. Oh well, I talked too much now, don't talk to me, I'm going to jump back into the tree and try not to notice the stupidity you emanate. Troublesome idiot."

What Shikamaru said was true. It was needed to describe how the Technique you want sealed looked like, not only what the Technique meant... The Chakra you use to seal will form that which you have drawn to be able to seal it. So if what you've drawn or/and written on the scroll isn't correct, it's a definite fail. A lot of practice is needed to be able to do this.

Naruto scowled and hovered over the empty scroll on the ground. He took a look at the fire, grabbed the paper with instructions and tried to locate the hand seals for sealing low-ranked Fire Techniques. 'That's right… I remember Jiraiya sealing Itachi's Black Fire Technique once… He drew something on the scroll before he did that, too…'

* * *

"Fuuinsu Goui!" Sakura yelled towards the small puddle of water she had created. Kakashi smiled as Sakura failed to seal it. She had done most things correctly. She used the right hand seal, she used the correct amount of Chakra, but she didn't understand what to write AND draw on the Scroll… Kakashi wanted to help with that, but knew he wasn't allowed to do so. Of course, he was allowed to tell her what was written on the paper, but that would simply be pointless. Sakura is a smart girl, after all.

A crouching Sakura scratched the top of her head through her pink hair and sent a confused glare towards the Scroll on the ground in front of her. 'Why didn't it work? I'm sure I used the right amount of Chakra… I did the right hand seals… And I think my description is perfect…'

Of course, the paper with the instructions only said you had to write the description down. But it didn't say on the paper you had to draw it, too. In that perspective, Naruto is a step ahead, because Shikamaru told him, while he wasn't supposed to tell him. But for Naruto, maybe that was allowed…

Inwardly groaning, Sakura just tried again.

A little farther away, Sasuke was using his Sharingan to decide how much Chakra he needed to gather for the low Fire technique in front of him. He had already written down the description. With a nod, he gathered Chakra and did a hand seal. "Fuuinka Goui!"

His Sharingan eyes narrowed immediately as he watched the Chakra dance in front of him. 'Something is missing… The Chakra won't move towards the attack to seal… It just lingers…' Sasuke sighed as he saw the Chakra dissipate. 'And then it fades. Now I see what this Test is for… It's for testing insight and ultimately also Chakra Stamina…' Sasuke looked downwards, towards his scroll and frowned. 'Something is missing on the scroll… But my description is perfect… What is missing?'

Elsewhere, Neji had come to the same conclusion with his Byakugan. Not one to waste time, he immediately activated his Senshin-Byakugan and tried again. The second time he found out that his Scroll was nowhere close to perfect. 'Something very big is missing on the scroll…' Neji grabbed the paper with instructions and skimmed over it again. 'Weird, I did as instructed… What did I do wrong?' Neji snarled as he took another look at his scroll. 'Damn it… this is harder than I thought…'

* * *

Naruto's eyes were very thin as he read the paper for the twentieth time. "Damn this… Describe? But Shikamaru said I should also draw it… I think that bastard is just making that up!" Naruto looked down on his scroll and observed the description of the fire technique. 'But it hasn't worked yet… It doesn't hurt if I try to draw it, too…' Naruto sighed as he started. 'My other problem is gathering the right amount of Chakra… I hate this test…'

A small ten minutes later… 'I can't afford to take this long to draw a small fire! If only I had looked at the scroll Jiraiya used back then… Then I would have known whether to draw the flame down exactly as it looks like!'

'Well, here goes nothing…' Naruto did the hand seals again. "Fuuinka Goui!"

Naruto's eyes turned bloodred as he tried to see the Chakra he had used. 'What?!' Naruto watches as his Chakra whirls around the small flame. 'Damn this! I used too much Chakra!' The little flame disappeared.

In a tree close by, Shikamaru grinned. 'Heh, he's close… But now comes the tricky part for him… He now understands he has to draw and write something down. He also knows which sealing technique to use. But his Chakra Control is still not very good…'

Naruto cracked his knuckles. 'I remember what Kakashi said to me… My Chakra comes natural to me… If I want it big, it gets big, if I want it small, it will be small… If I gather Chakra, I just add to it, instead of perfectioning it…'

Naruto closed his eyes and did the technique again, this time not bothering to gather Chakra. "Fuuinka Goui!"

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he saw Naruto succeed. Then, he smiled. 'Heh, I was beginning to think he wouldn't make it… I guess his Chakra Control has improved… But Naruto only has three hours left to finish the others… He'd better learn to draw faster…'

* * *

Meanwhile, Sakura had already sealed all levels of the Water Jutsus. For the Expert Rank, which was the highest Rank, she just searched for a lake, which was hard to find in the Sand Village. But eventually she stumbled upon one and had sealed a lot of Water in her Scroll. She found out the Kazekage was also there, waiting for the Chuunins to find out they had to seal the strongest Water Jutsu there. She even received a compliment from the Kazekage.

"Congratulations, Chuunin. You're the very first to come here."

Sakura continued with the Electricity Jutsus… 'This will become harder… I don't know any extremely powerful Electric Techniques… Next to that, I don't know if I have the Chakra to perform so many Jutsus…' Suddenly, Sakura smiled. 'That Examiner never told us we weren't allowed to help each other! And it doesn't say anywhere on the paper it's not allowed.' Sakura decided to go look for Sasuke or Naruto, but first, she would seal the smaller electric Techniques.

* * *

"Ryouganku no Jutsu!!" Naruto yelled out. He blurted out a lot of Lava in front of him. He had already written down the description and quickly drew the way the Lava was situated on the ground. He had learned it was not necessarily to draw precisely; a simple sketch would do too… "Fuuinka Ioui!"

Shikamaru shook his head, but with a smile. 'Heh, it's not really fair for the guy… I've never seen a lava Technique before… Unfortunately for him, Lava doesn't fall under the category Fire… He'll have to use Katon, Gamayo Endan or Katon, Karyu Endan… Still, I wish I had as much Chakra as he has… God knows how many times he has already tried to seal fire Techniques… Time is of the essence here…'

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Why the hell isn't it working!!!" Naruto stomped the ground a few times. 'This isn't working… I can't waste too much Chakra on this… I'll just do Ice Techniques now…'

* * *

Jiraiya and the Kazekage were main supervisors of the Test and looked quite pleased to see the Chuunins that apparently made it enter the room. The two of them were smiling and both knew that this Test was impossible to achieve. It takes a lot of Chakra to seal techniques into scrolls, especially the big ones. The objective was to seal at least four techniques, all levels, so twenty techniques in total. Jiraiya knew that not even the best Jounins could pull that off. Maybe Naruto and Gaara, with their Chakra amount, could pull it off right now. But none of the other Chuunins could do it. But they weren't supposed to pull it off, anyway. Just having sealed five techniques was good enough to pass… Five Different Techniques…

Jiraiya eyed Naruto as he entered the room. 'Did he do it? He has the Chakra, but did he figure it out?'

The Kazekage was eying Gaara as he came in. 'I'm sure he has done it. He has the Chakra and he is smart enough.'

The Examiners all noticed that none of the Chuunins were really confident of their accomplishments.

Naruto had sealed many techniques on his scrolls, but he failed on some too. Suddenly, he got hit on the back. He turned around to punish the poor fool, but found himself face to face with Sakura. "Sakura-chan? What's wrong? You look tired."

Sakura gritted her teeth. "You idiot! Where the hell were you! I don't have the Chakra to seal all those techniques; I needed you or Sasuke-kun! But he was nowhere to be found either!"

Naruto frowned. "But, aren't you supposed to pull this off on your own?"

Sakura sighed deeply and in annoyance. "No, of course not!"

"Then why would you deserve to be a Jounin, if you didn't do it all by yourself?" Naruto wondered out loud.

'I guess he's right in some way…' Sakura thought, before she replied. "Being a Jounin is not all about strength, idiot! It's also about working together with allies!"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't need anyone's help in this Test! I am going to do this on my own! You should too, Sakura-chan."

Sasuke suddenly stepped up to the two of them. "Hey Naruto, how many techniques did you seal?"

Naruto grinned widely. "Twenty-five!"

Sasuke and Sakura both gaped at the blonde. 'What?!' They both inwardly yelled.

Naruto scratched the back of his head as he saw their shocked expressions. "Well, only one Expert Rank, anyway, but many others too!"

Sasuke frowned. "Jeez, I only sealed fifteen… It's impossible for most Chuunins, Jounin even to perform so many high-levelled Techniques in so little time. Even ten is hard. The real test if you could seal, probably, a small amount."

Sakura sighed. "I hope so… Cause I didn't seal as many…"

"Gaara!" Naruto suddenly yelled out and ran away from his two ex-teammates.

Sasuke and Sakura watched him run away. "I think he would've sealed even more of those Jutsus if he had a better brain…" Sakura uttered.

Sasuke only nodded.

Meanwhile, Naruto stopped in front of Gaara. "So, how many Jutsus did you seal?"

"I stopped when I reached twenty. Why should I do more than what the Test tells you to do?" Gaara explained.

And then, the Kazekage spoke up. "Everyone! Show your scrolls with sealed techniques to the nearest Examiner! He or she will judge whether you passed or not!"

* * *

"What a stupid way to do a Test!! I wasted so much Chakra!!" Naruto screamed as he, Neji, Sasuke and Gaara were walking through the town.

"At least we all passed." Neji calmly muttered. "I've seen a few strong Shinobis around. This Jounin Exam won't be dangerous, but it can be entertaining…"

"I would hope so." Gaara interjected. "But seeing as it is, tomorrow there'll be two Paper tests. I expect no thrilling experiences…"

"Naruto, I hope you've gotten smarter, cause I don't think this will be easy." Neji said as he momentarily glanced at Sasuke, to his left. Sasuke usually was quiet, brooding as always.

"Heh! I'm smart as hell right now!" Naruto screamed. 'Not to mention that I have gained more knowledge than anyone can ever fathom…' Naruto added as an afterthought.

* * *

This time the Test was to be held in a simple, yet big, classroom. Neji looked quite bored as he took a seat next to his niece, Hyuga Hinata. He glanced sideways and favoured Hinata with a smile, before he greeted her. "Hinata-sama."

Hinata smiled a small smile. "Neji-nii-san. Let's do our best, ne?"

Neji nodded. "I do not think there is a need to worry." Neji gazed over the remaining participants. 'Still so many Chuunins left…' Neji's eyes found the body of Naruto. 'I hope he doesn't mess up in this one…'

And then, Kankurou stood in front of all Chuunins with a very serious expression on his face. "Listen up, insects! It's time to test your knowledge! If you can answer the questions on the papers that will be handed out by the Jounins correctly, you've proven that you know your… History. If you've done that, you're one step closer to the Jounin Rank." Kankurou nodded towards the Jounins left and right of him, who immediately began handing out paper tests.

Sasuke sighed as he read through the questions? 'What the hell… The real names of all Kazekages… The real names of the Hokages…' Sasuke sighed again as he continued. 'And all other Kages…'

Naruto, on the other hand, was almost grinning his mouth off. 'Teehee! Like this and that! I know all names of the Hokages! But, none from all those other Countries…' Naruto's expression turned sour…

The next questions were based on several Techniques and Clans and how they came to be. Sasuke and Neji knew a lot about techniques so they didn't really have a problem with it, the same went for Clans.. But both were really worried about Naruto passing this test.

Sakura was writing down answers without any pauses and she had agreed with Ino to let her use Shintenshin on her. Kiba used Akamaru to cheat, Chouji had to wait for Ino and her new technique that would swap body and mind. Gaara was using miniature Third Eyes all around the Room, while Neji and Sasuke simply used their Bloodline Limits to help them when needed. Like in the very first Chuunin Exam they had taken, participants would be punished for cheating, so they had to do it unnoticed.

Naruto was grinning like a madman. No one knew what the merging of the Kyuubi inside of him really meant, but one thing was for sure; what he was writing down on the paper was a whole new history… He was describing how Bloodline Limits came to be from the very start, something that even the older Hokages didn't know. He wrote down how wars began and ended, how Clans died and were reborn. All of this he knew thanks to the Kyuubi… who left Naruto his power, his Chakra, but also… his knowledge… And no one knew… Not even Naruto, until he started reading the questions on the paper and found out he knew almost everything…

* * *

Kakashi was very surprised to see Naruto write down answers without hesitation. 'What is he doing? He can't possible know all of the questions, yet he's writing down answers with an… all-knowing grin…' Kakashi remembered the questions on the papers. 'Even I didn't know every question…'

Kakashi wasn't the only one confused as Naruto was the first one to finish. Sasuke was dumbfounded, surprised that the blockhead was finished before he was. Neji used his Byakugan to see the answers on Naruto's paper and was surprised at the complicity of the answers. 'That can't be Naruto…' At the same time, he began to re-write a few answers of his own, after seeing that Naruto's were better.

Jiraiya and Baki were observing every Chuunin in the classroom. 'Hmmm, many will fall with this Test… I was sure Naruto would fall in this one, too, but… it seems he has a few new secrets…' Jiraiya thought as he grinned at the blonde Shinobi. 'Most Konoha Chuunins are smart enough for this Test, or have the ability to cheat through it unseen. It seems the Konoha and Sand Chuunins are the stronger ones here. But I sense a few other outstanding ones from other Countries too…'

When the time Limit was over, the Kazekage and Jiraiya checked the answers and failed all who hadn't written down enough correct answers. Baki's eyes widened as the answers Naruto had written down. 'How could he have known this much?' His eyes fell on the next few papers and noticed that Hyuga Hinata's and Hyuga Neji's papers were almost the same as Naruto's… 'Hyugas and their Byakugans…'

* * *

Immediately after sending away the Chuunins that failed, the papers for the next Test got handed out. Naruto was laughing at the easy answers. 'Hahaha! I can do this easily!!'

Gaara frowned at the, what seemed to be very easy, Test before him and went over Baki's words again…

_"Hand in the paper tests when you are completely sure you are done and finished it correctly. After having given the finished Paper Test to me or Jiraiya-sama, return to your seat. Questions are not allowed! If you use a Jutsu, you fail immediately! If you want to withdraw, you can, during the test! Begin!"_

Neji and Sasuke both instantly frowned at the questions in front of them. They were easy, way too easy, for geniuses such as them. Something was definitely wrong with these Tests…

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and saw Chakra all over the paper in front of him. But a simple Cancel Technique wouldn't work on it, he found out, even if it was allowed to use Jutsus. In fact, the little paper in front of him radiated Chakra around him as well. He was stuck in a Genjutsu himself! 'This paper is a technique…' Sasuke thought.

Neji had also activated his Byakugan and had come to the same conclusion as Sasuke. 'How to deactivate such a high-levelled Genjutsu? Something of this level will not be countered with a simple Cancel hand seal… But we're not allowed to do any hand seals, anyway.'

Naruto was stuck on a question and even the Kyuubi's knowledge couldn't help, because this was something during Naruto's own time… 'Stupid question… How many Tests did the last Chuunin Exam have? I think it was three... But the first Test included several smaller tests, but I can't remember how many!!'

After a small half hour, many Chuunins had already handed the Tests over to Jiraiya or Baki. That was when Baki suddenly yelled out. "Everyone stop right now!"

Naruto looked up from his paper with a worried expression. 'I haven't finished yet!! I'm in trouble!'

"Those that handed their paper tests over to me and Jiraiya-sama…"

The entire class tensed up and those that did finish the test wore a smile. That was, until…

"Fail!!" Baki finished his sentence…

"WHAT?!" Echoed throughout the entire room. Naruto screamed too, while Sasuke and Neji grinned and Gaara was simply watching.

Baki chuckled. "Those that handed the tests over were incompetent. It is very apparent you don't have the skill to see through Genjutsu, through REAL Genjutsu. All of you fail! Leave this room now!" Baki paused. "The others, those that didn't hand in the tests… You all pass! You have clearly spotted the Genjutsu on the paper and remained seated."

On the back of Naruto's head, a sweatdrop appeared. 'D-damn… I was lucky…'

Sasuke was frowning at Naruto, who was still seated. 'I would have expected from that Dobe that he would have been able to answer all these stupid questions and just handed in the test… Another possibility is that these questions, as easy as they were, were still too difficult for him…'

* * *

Jiraiya stepped forward as Baki took a seat in front of the class. He smiled evilly as he eyed the remaining Chuunins. 'Still a lot of them remain…' Jiraiya noticed that most of the Konoha Chuunins were still seated.

"Ok, listen up! The next Test is a mission! You'll be paired up with two other Chuunins to pull it off. These missions are A-Ranked, and they are real missions, brought to us by several Countries… So if you fail in accomplishing the mission, you get pulled out of the Jounin Exam and the Country who had given the mission will know your names and will know that you failed!"

Temari stepped up next to Jiraiya. "Alright! First team is Hyuga Neji, Keiko Akeru(1) and Akisa Agaru (2). Your mission comes from the Earth Country, all you need to know is in this Scroll." Temari said as she held up a scroll. She threw it towards Neji, who easily caught it. "You'll start tomorrow."

Temari continued with zoned out until he heard his name. "Fourth Team is Uzumaki Naruto, Maya Robuki(3) and Yamanaka Ino. Your mission comes from the Wind Country, report to the Kazekage to gather information about the mission."

Uchiha Sasuke only paid attention when he heard his own name. "Sixth Team, Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Kiba and Nishi Odei(3). Your mission comes from the Rain Country." Temari then threw a scroll towards Kiba, who caught it.

Gaara found himself in the same team as Hyuga Hinata and Akimichi Chouji. Temari grinned as she finished with the last, the twenty-third team. "Gather information now and start the mission tomorrow!" Temari yelled. 'Who would have thought that there would be this many Chuunins left? Sixty-nine are left now, I wonder if they can all accomplish their missions…'

* * *

"So, what's your mission like?" Naruto asked Neji as they both met each other outside of the building where the First Tests of the Chuunin Exam had been held.

Neji waited with answering as he saw his would-be teammates come out of the building and walk passed him. He greeted them with a nod, before he faced Naruto. "We are to report to the Ishikage in The Earth Country first thing tomorrow. Our mission will be to join a Huntersquad. Apparently one of the Huntersquads are not trusted by the Ishikage, we are to keep an eye on all members of this Hunter-team. It could be interesting…" Neji paused with an amused grin. "What about you?"

Naruto watched as Sasuke joined the two of them and then faced Neji. "My mission is awesome too! They're holding a Fighting Tournament between Older Jounins every year in the Sand Country. Me, Ino and… uhmm, I forgot her name, but my other teammate, we are supposed to keep an eye on the tournament. Baki-sama told me he thinks there's an intruder participating as well… And there's a possibility there are more intruders…"

Sasuke smiled. "Heh, I hope for you those intruders are strong, otherwise it's a pretty boring mission, compared to mine, especially."

Naruto snorted. "Heh! What's yours, then?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and grinned. "The Rain Country is small and not very… rich, one would say… In any case, many Rain Shinobis tend to go Nuke-nin… As in, Missing-nin. Lately many Shinobis succeed in passing the gates of the Rain Village, both in and out. Many guards have been killed during their duty guarding the Gates. Me, Kiba and Nishi Odei will replace their spot in front of the Gates of the Rain Village… Now they can be sure no one will leave or enter the Village without permission." As Sasuke finished, Gaara slowly trudged out of the building.

"Gaara!" Naruto yelled. "What's your mission?"

Gaara sighed, before he answered. "Assassination…" With a grin…

* * *

Author's Note: A few new Names:

(1): Keiko Akeru: Female Sand Chuunin Shinobi. Has the regeneration ability and the ability to completely transform her body into stone.

(2): Akisa Agaru: Male Rain Chuunin Shinobi. Has the ability to influence the surroundings, not using Genjutsu at all…

(3): Maya Robuki. Female Sand Chuunin Shinobi. Has the ability to control and see all sorts of bacteria around her.

(4): Nishi Odei. Male Sand Chuunin Shinobi. Has the ability to control the wind around him.


	13. Mission Examination

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: I hate Manga Chapter 233. Heck, I know a lot of people who hate it too…

On another, less important note: I am surprised no one mentioned that I used Hinata's name instead of Kiba's in the precious chapter! Not even Pyr00tje noticed this. Good for nothing-pre-reader, hehe. Also, no one mentioned that I didn't mention Sakura's team for the missions! Oh well, it's not like anyone cares about big forehead-girls… But I do, just a little bit. But I don't think I'll include her mission. Oh, for the readers who are expecting romance… There is just a LITTLE… but this is mostly all action here, I mean, I'm describing A-Class Missions here…

Thanks goes out to all you reviewers!! Thank you so very much!!

Also, thank my pre-reader! Pyr00tje! If you spot any errors in this chapter, it's his fault!! Hehehehehe… Uhmm, anyway, he's the one who came up with the title for this chapter too! So thank him!

* * *

A raindrop soared vertically downwards through the skies, along with million other raindrops. It had already passed a small amount of birds and witnessed a lightning bolt. It was almost ready to land on ground. But it would meet the ground later, as it landed on top of someone's head.

'How troublesome…'

Nara Shikamaru was observing a three-man team and was skilfully being stealthy as he followed them. Hyuga Hinata, Akimichi Chouji and Gaara were walking in front of him. He had noticed Gaara knew he was following them and it would take one glance with the Byakugan for Hinata to notice him as well. Shikamaru smiled as his glance fell on Chouji, who had been eating from the beginning of this mission.

'Heh, he wouldn't notice me if I don't want to be noticed, but he'll prove himself in other areas.'

Next to Shikamaru, in the tree, was Temari, who was to observe only Gaara. Those were Baki's orders. She had been silent most of the time and Shikamaru was the same. "Hey Nara… We're not allowed to jump in. So you better not save that friend of yours if he's in trouble." Temari whispered.

Shikamaru snarled at Temari. "Of course not!" He whispered back.

"You've done it in the past many times…" Temari reminded him. "This is also a pretty dangerous mission…"

Shikamaru went over the mission in his head again. This particular mission came from the Grass Country and was to be an assassination. Usually assassinations were to be rejected by Shinobis, but in this case, it was to kill a man inside Grass Country, who was assembling Missing-nins from the Grass for taking over Grass Country. In any case, they only needed to kill the 'leader', or the one who has assembled all those Shinobis, without being seen by any other Shinobi. For their own safety, but Gaara was with them, so they had no real need to feel afraid, or so Shikamaru figured.

They had already spoken to the Kage of the Grass Country and received exact instructions for this mission. Shikamaru yawned a long yawn, stretched his arms and watched as Gaara requested to Hinata to activate her Byakugan.

'Hmm, I wonder if they're onto something…' Shikamaru thought.

**  
  
  
**

**There Where When is Now, Book 3**

Chapter 13: Mission Examination

  


Sasuke casually and absent-mindedly scratched the right-side of his neck as he was leaning against a tree. In the tree, Kiba was stationed and trying to sniff out different smells around them.

They had sensed several Shinobis approaching the Gates of the Rain Village. Sasuke moved ahead, with Kiba in pursuit. Nishi Odei decided to just stay behind and guard the Gates, in case it was a diversion of any kind. Above him, inside one of the towers, Aburame Shino observed.

Kiba hopped down from tree branch to branch and landed next to Sasuke.

"Akamaru has already moved in." Kiba whispered and nodded his head towards the direction they needed to go. "There are three of them."

Sasuke nodded and followed Kiba in silence. 'These people better be good…' Sasuke thought. It had been a while since he had a good, unknown opponent.

Kiba suddenly slowed down and was moving next to Sasuke. "I lost Akamaru's scent…" Kiba whispered with a concerned expression on his face. "This is not good… I also smell that someone is now chasing us…"

Sasuke smirked. 'Very good… I didn't even sense someone behind me… I guess these Shinobis are pretty good…'

Kiba shot a short annoyed glance at the Uchiha beside him. 'Damn it, he just wants a challenge… Akamaru better be alright…'

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he tried to sense someone around him, but he couldn't. 'Kiba smells someone and with his nose, he can not be mistaken. He can't be fooled by Genjutsu like this… But if I can't sense them, they must not be using too much Chakra to follow us… Or they are too weak, but we're moving at high speeds.' Sasuke moved his head towards Kiba. "How close are they?" Sasuke whispered.

"Very close…" was the immediate reply. "And they're keeping up with our speed too…" Kiba's eyes widened. "They just passed us…"

Kiba and Sasuke both stopped on the ground as they saw three figures appear in front of them. "Heh… There's no doubt… You're an Uchiha…" The large man chuckled as he stared directly into Sasuke's eyes. "Activate your little Sharingan… and show me whether you're better than Itachi or not…"

Enraged, Sasuke immediately activated his Sharingan…

* * *

On the first day, Hyuga Neji was bored out of his skull and was watching how Lee was following him and the two Shinobis who were to be with him on this mission. They had been helping one of the Huntersquads from the Earth Country the entire day. Their mission was to look through all Huntersquads; apparently one of the squads was against the Ishikage and had already performed several attempts to kill him. This mission was a bit difficult, since it was hard to see if any members of the Huntersquads were against the Ishikage.

But this was probably one of the reasons why particularly a Hyuga was to accomplish this mission. Besides being excellent Shinobis, Hyugas were also known to detect any lie apparent in an expression on someone's face, with help of the Byakugan of course. So far, Neji was not pleased. The Huntersquad they were with now were completely loyal to the Ishikage.

Hyuga Neji observed his 'teammates' for this mission with his Byakugan. He didn't know anything about them. The female, Keiko Akeru, was apparently a Sand Shinobi but clearly originated form the Stone Country. Akisa Agaru, the male teammate, was from the Rain Country.

But now, on the second day, Hyuga Neji was inwardly laughing very loudly. Keiko and Akisa both frowned at the Hyuga as he chuckled sometimes.

He had discovered it; Neji witnessed the careful small glances all members of the Huntersquad shot at each other. Closing his eyes, he chuckled out loud and stopped moving along with the Huntersquad. "I've figured it out. Keiko-san, Akisa-san, this is the team we need to beat down and bring before the Ishikage."

Both Keiko and Akisa frowned at Neji, but braced themselves anyway. "Are you sure, Neji-san?" Akisa asked as he stared at the five members of the Huntersquad.

The leader of the squad answered before Neji could. "This is nonsense! Cut this out now, Chuunins! We have a mission to accomplish, don't get in our way!"

Neji frowned at the leader, but the frown turned into a glare in no time. "Fool, I am a Hyuga. The very small, almost unnoticeable twitch in your left eye indicates your nervousness. You can not fool a Hyuga. You've been discovered, so I suggest you surrender."

All five members chuckled. The Captain glared at Neji, Keiko and Akisa. "Idiots, all five of us are Jounin-level! You should have completed the mission with us and afterwards reported to the Ishikage that we were the traitors. Now, you have to fight us and lose, while we have the chance to run away from Rain Country."

Neji smirked. "Perhaps. But I wanted to fight the five of you."

Akisa and Keiko both gaped at Neji. "Neji-san! These are Jounins! Five! We are Chuunins! And we're only with three!" Keiko yelled out.

Neji's smirk grew and his gaze dared the Jounins to move. "Heh… You might be Chuunin Level… But I am Sannin Level…" Neji paused and closed his eyes. "Senshin-Byakugan!"

* * *

'It's a little unfair; this team is too strong… The female from the Sand has a very useful Bloodline Limit. Ino has the Kusanagi and her own Family Jutsus. And then there's Naruto, the most powerful of them…' Ten-Ten thought as she was observing them from the stands. The little Old-Sand Jounin Tournament was about to begin. Next to her, Kakashi was seated, reading a certain little book.

It was a tournament of older Jounins, who all had served Gaara's father when he was the Kazekage. They had all sworn allegiance to him. There were also many of them and most of them were against the new Kazekage. The Kazekage had purposely sent many Sand Jounins away to observe missions the Chuunins were taking for the Jounin Exam. He did this to lure the old-Jounins out and let them try to attack him.

"Would you stop twitching already!?"

Naruto groaned as he rubbed both his ears. Several others around the trio, Naruto, Ino and Maya Robuki, did the same. "You should stop screaming! I'm just excited, ok?"

Maya Robuki smiled a small smile. 'These two know each other already. And the male from Konoha… I saw him talking to Gaara during the first Test of the Jounin Exam…'

Naruto had already noticed the eerie atmosphere around Maya, with his heightened senses. 'She's very good… She uses very small animals… bacteria they are called, I think…'

Ino's glance went around the entire stadium. "So, you smell anything fishy, Naruto?"

Naruto frowned. "How do you expect me to smell anything when you have so much perfume on?!" Naruto shook his head. "Why bother using perfume on a mission, anyway?"

"It is important to smell nice…" Ino snorted. "You, OBVIOUSLY, don't know that!"

Naruto frowned again and turned away from Ino. "You still don't smell nice. If anything, this perfume made it even worse…"

Ino glared at Naruto's back. "I'll act like the adult here and ignore you for the entire mission!"

Naruto chuckled. "Heh! I bet you'll be screaming for my help when the action kicks in!"

Maya Robuki shook her head as the duo continued bickering or, Naruto yelling and Ino trying to ignore him. "Hey, you two! The first match is about to begin!"

* * *

Shikamaru was usually most of the times, very bored. Right now… He was also still bored. Temari was much the same.

When Hinata activated her Byakugan, she spotted a Jounin from the Grass running and jumping, while maintaining a camouflage Jutsu. It was amazing Gaara had sensed the guy, because even Shikamaru hadn't, and he was the Jounin here.

Pretty soon, Shikamaru watched the trio leap away to follow the Grass Jounin. 'Well, I guess it begins…' Shikamaru thought, adding his usual line in the process, before he jumped to follow the Chuunins.

After arriving pretty close to the trio, Shikamaru had noticed that they were spying on the Grass Jounin. 'Hmm, they're concealing their presences pretty well…' Shikamaru thought as he, again, jumped into a tree. Gaara, Hinata and Chouji were all lying over an edge, towering above a clearing. Shikamaru's eyes skimmed over the scenery before him and spotted the Grass Jounin a little farther ahead. 'This Grass Jounin could simply be on a mission… I hope they've got the right one, otherwise this is going to take even longer…'

All four Shinobis watched every move the Grass Jounin was making. The Jounin deactivated the Camouflage Jutsu and when he did, several other Shinobis, two Grass Chuunins and one Jounin, erupted from the ground. Shikamaru's eyes widened as Gaara leaped away from Hinata and Chouji and charged right in. 'What is he doing?!' Shikamaru paused in his thoughts. 'On the other hand, he can just kill them all, knowing his power…' Shikamaru turned to Temari. "How about a little game of Go?"

Hinata and Chouji's eyes were also widened, they looked at each other and decided to stay and observe. They still hadn't been noticed by anyone.

Gaara landed in front of the four Shinobis, two Jounins and two Chuunins. "The Kage from the Grass has ordered me to assassinate all of you."

The Jounin closest frowned. "What?! Why us!? We haven't done anything!"

Gaara sighed, did a single hand seal and smiled. Before the Jounins or Chuunins could react, the ground behind them began to crumble and a huge hand appeared out of the sand. Then, the huge hand dug itself under ground again. A second later, the sand hand appeared again, this time holding a man.

Gaara began to speak again. "This man has obviously asked all four of you to gather here. All to form some sort of group, which was supposed to be against the Kage…"

The Chuunins all immediately threw many Shurikens and Kunais, but all were knocked away by Gaara's Shield of Sand. The Jounins disappeared from view, while Gaara had already washed away the Chuunins with a mighty sand wave.

Hinata and Chouji moved in, while Shikamaru, in the tree, yawned.

Gaara didn't pay any attention to the Jounins circling around him, but he had already broken most bones of the 'leader' of this little group using "Sabaku SouSou…"

Hinata intercepted one of the Jounins with a slap to the chest, knocking him backwards. She was able to do so, because she hadn't been noticed by the Jounin. Chouji simply let the other Jounin collide with himself. The heavier Shinobi won the collision.

Gaara looked around and saw that the two Jounins were facing Hinata and Chouji. Inwardly he pouted. 'They're taking the stronger ones…' He turned his head to see the two Chuunins, still standing. 'And I get the weaker ones…' With a sigh, Gaara waved his hand and with that, created about five hands of sand. That was supposed to be enough for the Chuunins, but Gaara was a little intrigued to see the Chuunins create small trees to shield themselves.

Getting a little more serious, Gaara did one handseal using both his hands. "Ryuusa Bakuryuu!"

The two Chuunins despaired, after seeing Gaara create one humongous Wave of Sand, big enough to wash away a small Village. They were gone for…

Gaara turned away from the now dead Chuunins and watched Hinata activate her Senshin-Byakugan, while Chouji had taken in his first Akimichi pill.

Hinata had figured out every move she was supposed to make to lead her across the path of victory. One feint to the left would make the Jounin follow her movements, so the feint would fail, but adding another extra feint to the left, created a small opening in the Jounin's defenses. As she was doing the second feint, she moved towards the different direction and slipped her hand through his defenses, hitting his stomach.

The Jounin growled in pain and jumped backwards. Hinata smiled as they stood face to face again. 'The first blow and this second one should be enough to have weakened him… He has lost about 60 percent control of both his arms… The Jutsus he will use will turn out weaker than he wants to, because I closed two important points…'

The Jounin was clearly confused why those two hits were tiring him out this much. But Hinata didn't allow him any time to breathe as she rushed forward again. The Jounin was very talented, but the movements of the Hyuga woman were very puzzling and they were tricking him into awkward positions. There was no other way but to follow her movements or be hit.

But he was to be hit again, this time, Hinata had avoided two punches aimed for her head and when the third attempt to hit her came, Hinata swirled around the Jounin's arm and mildly tapped the back of the Jounin's neck.

Hinata smiled as the Jounin grunted in pain. "You… what did you do?!"

"I hit the one Tenketsu located in the back of your neck. I forced more Chakra into it and then closed it. Because of that, your brains can not comprehend the amount of Chakra that is flowing through your body anymore. In other words, you no longer have any Chakra Control…" Hinata calmly and confidently let out.

Gaara smirked. 'The Hyuga woman is very good… She dealt with a Jounin this easily… She's already stronger than a Jounin, it seems…' Gaara turned away from Hinata to focus on Chouji, who was using his physical strength to rip out pieces of ground to block the elemental attacks his opponent was throwing at him. It was already apparent that no physical attack from his opponent could harm Chouji.

Chouji used his Partial Multi-Size Skill to grab the Jounin's head with one hand. But the Jounin wiggled himself free and did a few handseals. But before he could finish, Chouji this time used his Partial Multi-Size skill on both his arms and trapped the Jounin. He held him both hands and rocketed forward to deliver an earth-shattering headbutt to the Jounin's forehead. The Jounin skidded backwards on the ground and was about to get back up, but Chouji landed on him. The Jounin found himself several meters underground.

Chouji jumped out of the hole he had just created and waited for the Jounin to come out. Gaara narrowed his eyes and used a little sand to protect Chouji, in case the Jounin would try to attack Chouji from underground. The Jounin indeed tried to attack Chouji from underneath him, but found the sand too hard to penetrate.

Chouji hadn't even noticed and was still waiting for the Jounin to come out.

The Jounin jumped out and immediately unleashed a Jutsu at Chouji. "Hakaze Atemi!!"

Chouji's eyes widened as he watched hundreds of hardened leaves head for him. But a huge amount of Sand stopped every leaf. Chouji turned around to see Gaara slowly walk towards him. Chouji turned to face his opponent again to see him trapped in sand.

"Want me to finish this off?" Gaara asked as he stood next to Chouji. Chouji smiled and nodded. "Thanks… Gaara."

Gaara's eyes twitched as he crushed the Jounin, before he replied. "No problem."

Now all they had to do was take the 'leader' back to the Kage from the Grass. The trio walked over to the man, who had just about broken all his bones. Hinata used her Byakugan to see the damage done to him by Gaara's Desert Funeral. She winced in pain as she saw all the fractured bones…

* * *

Sasuke's hand got grabbed by Kiba. "Wait, Sasuke!"

Kiba glanced at the dog the man was holding in his right hand. "Akamaru!" Akamaru had gotten a lot bigger through the years, but this guy was pretty big himself.

Sasuke narrowed his Sharingan eyes. "I've seen you before, with Itachi! Where is he?!"

Kiba joined in on the screaming. "Hey! Let go of my dog, you fish-face!"

The large man chuckled, before he threw Akamaru to the ground. "Name's Hoshigaki Kisame…" Kisame looked at the dog. "This little dog thought he could get by us unnoticed. I sort of drowned him with a Water Technique."

Kiba analyzed Akamaru and noticed he was still breathing. 'That's why I couldn't smell him anymore… His smell got washed away by water…'

"Uchiha Sasuke, right? You are Itachi's little brother." Kisame let out. "Just to let you know, I know how to fight Sharingan users…"

As Kisame said that, the entire forest they were in suddenly got enshrouded in mist. "Hehe, what good is your Sharingan if you can't see anything?" Kisame's voice rang out through the mist.

Kiba chuckled. "Heh, eyesight doesn't matter to me! I have my nose!" Kiba analyzed the situation and retrieved Akamaru, giving him a soldier pill in the process. 'Still, that large guy is from the Mist… What's a guy from the Mist doing invading the Rain Country? And who are those other two Shinobis?'

Sasuke inwardly cursed, before he did a few hand seals. "I'll get rid of the mist using Fire Techniques…"

Kiba stared questioningly at Sasuke. "No, stop! I will lose the chance of smelling them out if you completely create the smell of burning wood around here!"

Sasuke shrugged. "At least I'll be able to see then!"

Kiba growled just as Akamaru was coming back to his senses. "Listen, you bastard! Perhaps we have the advantage now! Who says they can see in this Mist?"

Sasuke almost wanted to roll his eyes. "Mist Shinobis are known to be very good in silent killing… They are used to the mist, you idiot."

Kiba thought this over and looked at Akamaru, who barked. "Fine, deal with the Mist, then."

"Katon, Karyu Endan!!" Sasuke screamed out letting out a huge stream of fire, while moving his head from the left to the right, dealing with the mist all around him.

Kiba looked around and noticed nothing but burning trees falling down. "Damn… I can't smell them now… I can't hear them either since there are still trees falling down…"

After a small minute of checking around, Sasuke and Kiba both tensed up when they sensed someone behind them. It was Nishi Odei. "Hey, I noticed that big fire attack, so I immediately headed over here."

Far behind them, Shino was observing, but sensed the enemy they were facing. 'They're facing a powerful one… The other two seemed to be ordinary Jounins, but the strongest one, concerns me…'

Sasuke had already activated his Sharingan as he glanced all around them. Nishi, Kiba and Akamaru were just preparing themselves for anything. It was three against three now.

  


Shino tensed up as he sensed the strongest one of the trio behind him. "You are Hoshigaki Kisame…"

Kisame chuckled. "Who are you? Are you following those punks from Konoha?"

Shino shook his head. "No, they're taking the Jounin Exam. I am to observe them."

Kisame shook his head. "My two subordinates are dealing with them as we speak. How about I deal with you, Konoha Jounin?"

Shino nodded his head. "I am an ANBU Captain and my mission is to hand in Missing-nins if I were to encounter any." Shino turned around to stand face to face with Kisame. Or rather, face to shoulder. Kisame was a lot bigger.

  


Sasuke easily predicted the movements of the ones they were facing. Together with Kiba and Nishi, they were basically beating the crap out of the two Shinobis. 'Where's the other one?! That Kisame! I want him!' Sasuke thought as he beat one of the Shinobis hard down to the ground. ""Where is that other guy!?" Sasuke screamed as he grabbed the Shinobi by the collar.

Kiba and Nishi had already dealt with other Shinobi and were looking at Sasuke with a frown.

"That guy wants to fight too much…" Nishi said as he kicked the Shinobi who was lying on the ground before them.

Kiba nodded. "Yeah… Still, that other guy could have been able to get passed the Gates of the Rain Country when he created that mist… We should head back…"

Akamaru suddenly barked and Kiba's eyes widened. "What?!" Kiba tried to smell the air, but was unable to do so, because of the burning smell around him. But Akamaru's nose was better than his. 'Shino is here?'

  


Shino jumped back to avoid getting hit by the huge sword Kisame was wielding. "It is useless trying to hit me with it."

Kisame chuckled as he strapped the sword on his back and started performing hand seals. "Then why are you dodging it?"

Shino narrowed his eyes behind his glasses and started performing handseals himself.

Kisame hollered as he finished his hand seals. "Suiton, Taiyuu Hanrai Suigai!!"

Shino's eyes widened at the skill Kisame was performing. He hadn't finished his own set of seals. From out of Kisame's body, a huge amount of water was pouring out and it was spreading. Then, suddenly, Kisame's entire body turned to water and a huge wave towered above even the trees. Shino's eyes widened even more. 'No… My bugs won't be able to survive under water for very long…' But it was too late to get away; the huge amount of water was already descending.

Under water, Shino noticed the water was already being drained by the roots of the trees around them, but he still had to survive for a little while. Shino tried to swim upwards, but he stopped as he saw Kisame materialize in front of him. Kisame smirked and, amazingly enough, spoke up under water.

"Hehe, this is my fighting area… as long as it will last anyway…" Kisame said as he rushed forward and started beating Shino, also using the sword.

Kisame frowned as his sword went straight through Shino. He saw many bugs appear out of his body and try to swim, but to no avail. Shino was gasping for air and he was now pretty wounded, because his bugs were unable to heal him under water.

But Kisame had no time to deliver more damage to Shino as the water amount decreased. A few seconds later, Shino and Kisame were both standing on firm ground. Kisame was perfectly fine, but Shino was panting.

"Sorry, but it seems my subordinates have been beaten. I do not think I can defeat an Uchiha properly now that I have used so much Chakra to deal with you…" Kisame said as he leaped away in haste.

Moments later, Kiba, Sasuke, Akamaru and Nishi arrived to find an unconscious Shino. Sasuke spotted a few tracks that showed him where Kisame went. He immediately left, leaving Kiba, Akamaru and Nishi with Shino. "We'll take Shino to the Rain Village…" Kiba said as he lifted Shino and put him on his shoulder. "Let's go! Sasuke can take care of himself… I hope."

* * *

Neji snorted as he observed the Shinobis in front of him. "Fools… Why are you against the Ishikage?"

The Captain stepped forward. "Our Village got demolished by Konoha Shinobis several weeks ago. We should be at war with them!"

Neji suddenly chuckled. "Hehe, well… Let me tell you something. Your Village got destroyed by three Shinobis. One Sand Shinobi and two Konoha Shinobis." Neji paused and closed his eyes. "I am one of those two Konoha Shinobis…"

The Captain immediately glared at Neji, along with his four subordinates.

Neji smiled cruelly as he gazed at the five members of the Huntersquad. "What? Does this piss you off?"

"Neji-san! Stop this! Don't make them even angrier than they already are!" Keiko screamed.

Akisa nodded his head, agreeing with Keiko. "Neji-san! We should run back to the Village now!"

One of the members chuckled at Akisa. "As if we would let you escape now!"

Neji shook his head and sighed. "We will take them on now. If you are unsure of you own abilities, perhaps you shouldn't have taken the Jounin Exam." Neji smirked and performed a few hand seals, before he looked directly at the Captain of the squad. "Enkyori Tenketsu Muchiutsu!"

The Captain frowned as Neji formed his arms so, as if he was about to fly. But then, Neji put both his palms forward and the Captain felt pain in two spots on his chest…

Neji commenced. "Four Hands! Eight Hands! Sixteen Hands! Thirty-Two Hands! Sixty-Four!!"

The four member of the Huntersquad watched their Captain fall to the ground, completely unconscious. "What did you do to him?!"

"I closed all of his Opening Points with Chakra Strings and at the same time, severed several organs." Neji answered. "He is unable to fight for at least three days."

Keiko and Akisa stared at the twitching body of the captain. "Wha…?"

Neji smirked. "I forced more Chakra in and out in several points. His body does not how to act and his mind is trying to gain control again. That struggle within him is pointless, but it will go on until the Opening Points have returned to normal, regardless of his will…"

Neji suddenly yelled "Kaiten!!" and was spinning like a top. Keiko and Akisa watched two members fly away after coming in contact with the spinning Neji. As Neji stopped spinning, the duo saw he was smiling again. "Trying to catch me off-guard will never work now… I have my Senshin-Byakugan." Neji slightly turned to face Keiko and Akisa. "You two, deal with those two I just knocked away. I have improved my Heavenly Spin greatly; they should be in a lot of pain right now." Neji turned away from them again and faced the remaining two. "I'll deal with these two…" He ended with a grin.

"You're good, Chuunin." One of them said. "But we will not underestimate you anymore…"

Neji shook his head. "It does not matter. Your loss is inevitable… My condition right now is top-notch! Yours however, is very bad… You," Neji began, looking at the left member of the squad. "You have a small amount of Chakra and you prefer to use Taijutsu, something that will never work against me. And the other." Neji continued, moving his gaze over to the other member. "You think I didn't notice the little Genjutsu you just put around me… On top of that, your right hand is injured. The speed in which your perform handseals is decreased by a great deal."

The two members looked at each other and swallowed nervously.

Neji slipped into the Hyuga Stance. "But for the sake of finishing this battle, let us commence."

* * *

It was already the third day of the Tournament. Every day a round would be played out. The first two days were uneventful and Naruto even called the fights boring, while Ino and Maya were sometimes impressed. The Kazekage himself had Kankurou and another Sand Jounin standing next to him, guarding him. Naruto also had noticed that Ten-Ten and Kakashi were to observe him, Ino and Maya.

Baki looked down at the remaining contestants and turned to Kankurou. "I do hope they will strike someday… Otherwise those Chuunins will have accomplished their mission a little too easy."

Kankurou nodded. "They'll strike either today or tomorrow."

Baki smiled. "I hope so… I" Baki got caught off as he watched Kankurou dive to the left, avoiding about three Kunais. Baki and the other Jounin immediately braced themselves for what was to come. In no time, Naruto appeared in front of the Kazekage as well.

Baki looked slightly surprised that he was so fast. "Kazekage-sama… Not only the older Jounins here are after you, it seems." Naruto said as he scanned the arena.

Ino and Maya meanwhile, were down in the arena itself, together with Kakashi, Ten-Ten and two Sand-Jounins.

"Naruto, we'll protect Baki-sama. You go ahead and attack our enemy." Kankurou said as he stepped next to Baki.

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Kankurou and nodded. "Alright. It seems there are many Shinobis on top of the stadium and they're most likely very good at distance-attacks. You better not fail at your job, Kankurou."

Kankurou nodded as Naruto jumped away. "I won't."

Naruto threw a Shuriken towards one of the enemies. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!!" With that, thousands of Shuriken were now heading towards his one target, but because the shower of Shurikens was so big now, it was headed towards more enemies.

Naruto grinned as two Shinobis fell dead. He grinned even more as he felt the remaining Shinobis approach him in high speed. Naruto quickly jumped away from the stadium and was satisfied the others were following him.

In the arena, Ino stood with her back against Ten-Ten's and both were panting. Kakashi flew passed them, while he was holding onto an enemy. They watched the other girl, Maya Robuki make every Shinobi around her vomit. It was really strange…

Ino gripped the Kusanagi sword tightly and rushed forward again, this time slashing an enemy across the chest and left shoulder. Ino dodged a foot and a few Kunais in the process and did a few handseals. "Shinranshin no Jutsu!"

Ino smirked as she had manipulated three enemies with her mind control and they were attacking their comrades while they didn't even want to. "First, it was six to a lot, now it is nine to a lot."

Ten-Ten smiled as she balled herself up and suddenly jumped up. Kakashi and Ino knew what she was about to do and ran for cover. Ten-Ten formed a blue Chakra shield around her and then let it shatter, sending thousands of small blue Chakra Needles to every direction.

Up where the Kazekage was standing, Kankurou decided to unleash all of his dolls around the stadium… All three dolls…

Farther ahead, Naruto had stopped running and was facing about five enemy Jounins. "I am Uzumaki Naruto! I will kick all your asses!"

"Idiot, you're not even a Jounin and you're facing five Jounins… Elite Jounins." One of them replied. "You will die here…"

Naruto smirked. "I admit that five Jounins can be a little hard…" Naruto closed his eyes and Chakra began to form around him. "That's why I won't play…"

The five Jounins all shivered as Naruto's now red eyes gazed at them. "I take it you noticed I'm no ordinary Shinobi…"

* * *

Kisame sighed as he sensed he was being followed. 'That damn brat's following me… I might kill your little brother, Itachi…' Kisame stopped on a tree branch and waited for Sasuke to arrive. It turned out he had to wait only five seconds…

"Hoshigaki Kisame. Tell me where my brother is!" Sasuke ordered.

Kisame chuckled and grabbed his sword. "Heh, Foolish little… Shinobi. Everyone of the Akatsuki has gone his or her own way. I have no idea where your brother is."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Hm. You told me you wished to see if I was better than Itachi moments ago! I will prove it to you now!!" Sasuke screamed as he rushed forward and activated his Sharingan. Immediately Kisame disappeared and a lot of Mist appeared around the two of them.

Sasuke growled as he looked around him. He performed a few handseals. "Katon, Housenka!!" Sasuke sent Fireballs in every direction, trying to make the mist disappear.

"It is useless… As long as I am near, the Mist will remain." Kisame said, but Sasuke could not locate him. His voice came from all around him.

Sasuke focused on the task of locating Kisame. 'I have to be careful, Kisame can sneak up on me anytime…'

"Fool… You Sharingan users are so vulnerable when you can not use your eyes… You've become too used to using and depending on the Sharingan… Shinobis with Bloodline Limits should not only focus on developing the Bloodline Limit…"

Sasuke mostly ignored Kisame's words and was trying to see if he could sense him anywhere. "Without this Mist you would be nothing!"

"You wish, maggot! Didn't I tell you that I know how the Sharingan works!? I can easily avoid your Mangekyou Sharingan and I also have built enough resistance to deal with the Black Fire of the Uchiha Clan. Creating this Mist would be creating an extra advantage for me… You're the one who's nothing!"

Sasuke did not see the fist and was hit directly on the forehead. He also felt a sword slash him across his right leg as he fell. As he landed on his feet on the ground, he snarled and took a look at the cut on his right leg.

"See? You didn't even sense me! I was told you were there when Zabuza was killed… I am a lot better than Zabuza in silent killing…"

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger, but gasped as suddenly a huge wave of Water totally washed over him, ultimately taking him with it.

"It's not fun when you can not predict my movements, huh?"

Sasuke blurted out a lot of water before he rose to his feet again. "Whether this mist is here or not does not matter… I'll defeat you here!"

"You should if you say you're better than Itachi. It took him less than five minutes to beat me… And you have about two minutes left to do the same…" Kisame said with a chuckle. "Idiot, you will never surpass your brother." Kisame roared as he ran towards Sasuke.

Sasuke saw Kisame's silhouette and immediately did a few handseals. "Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Five Fireballs flew towards the Silhouette. But the Silhouette just kept on running towards Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't see if it was a Water Clone because the mist was still too thick. Sasuke did another set of handseals. "Katon, Karyu Endan!!"

As the huge wave of Fire died out, Sasuke was immediately hit by Kisame's foot. "Idiot… Fire Techniques never really worked on me. I do feel them, but they're practically a tickle to me… Also, my sword has the ability to drain Chakra. So I should be saying thanks!"

Sasuke immediately surged forward now that he could see him. He gritted his teeth in frustration as Kisame dissipated into water. 'Damn, it was a Water Clone…'

"Sorry, but I am leaving… I've left about a dozen Water Clones for you to deal with. You're a lot weaker than Itachi…"

Sasuke rushed forward in anger and destroyed every Water Clone he encountered immediately.

Soon, the Mist vanished and Sasuke realized Kisame managed to get away. "Damn it…"

* * *

Both of the Jounin-level Shinobis were unable to hit Neji even once. Though both of them were very fast, in both physical movement and Jutsus, the Hyuga genius simply saw everything. Neji had already hit both of them once at very critical points, and they were both starting to feel tired and more hurt by the minutes…

"Keiko-san, Akisa-san, are you two alright?" Neji asked, ignoring the two panting Shinobis in front of him.

"Yes, Neji-san." Both of them noticed Neji was completely unharmed and were very impressed. Taking a look at Neji's opponents, they saw Neji was definitely winning.

"You two should surrender now. You can no longer continue on with this fight. If we continue, my next hit will be a lethal one. Tread carefully now…"

Both Shinobis looked at each other, before nodding in shame. "Fine… We surrender…"

"Neji-san… Just how strong are you?" Keiko asked as she stepped up next to him.

"Yeah… I think you're the strongest of all participants in this Jounin Exam." Akisa said as he looked at the two still conscious Shinobis.

Neji shook his head. "No, I do not think I am the most powerful one."

Keiko smiled. "I know one who could possible match you in strength… His name is Gaara."

Neji nodded. "I know Gaara, he's a friend of mine. He trained together with me and Uzumaki Naruto."

Keiko looked quite impressed by that. "So, the three of you… are equals?"

Akisa didn't really understand it. Apparently this 'Gaara' guy was really strong in Keiko's eyes.

Neji nodded. "Yes, we are somewhat equals…"

* * *

Naruto was running back to the stadium after leaving five corpses behind. The fight had been rather short. The Jounins realised Taijutsu was definitely not an option and that most Jutsus didn't work against him. In the end, it was a simple swipe here and there for Naruto and he was on his merry way again.

As he landed in the arena again, he smiled at the obvious victory they were having. A small amount of enemies were left so everyone was still fighting when he arrived.

Ino spotted Naruto and immediately yelled out. "Naruto! Where the hell have you"

She was interrupted as she felt intense heat to her left. A huge wave of flames was heading directly for her. She closed her eyes and sensed someone grab her. She then opened her eyes to see nothing but fire around her and she wasn't feeling anything at all. 'Wha-What's going on?!' Instead of feeling pain she was feeling… very good… As if she was getting stronger.

As the fire vanished she watched Naruto dematerialize from fire to himself. "What…!?"

Naruto snickered and nervously scratched the back of his head. "I, uh, wasn't sure if it would work… but it apparently did! Hehe!"

Ino frowned at him and noticed that Kakashi had dealt with the one who had used the fire attack against her. "What did you do, Naruto?"

Naruto noticed he was still holding Ino and immediately let go. He then turned away from her and watched the last enemy die by the hands of one of Kankurou's dolls. "It's my Bloodline Limit… I can become fire, water, electricity, you name it. But I never tried it together with someone else, so we were really lucky!"

Ino sighed in relief. "You can become fire and water? That's an awesome Bloodline Limit, Naruto!"

"Yeah, yeah!! I know! It is, isn't it?! I'm so happy I have it!" Naruto replied, while he jumped.

Kakashi walked up to the two of them. "That was a very tricky thing you did, Naruto-kun. I've never seen that particular trick done before, even not by the Fourth."

Ino blinked. "The Fourth?"

Naruto yawned and playfully punched Kakashi in the shoulder, though it was also to say that Kakashi shouldn't say too much. "It's a long story."

Kakashi smiled at Naruto and Ino and winked at them. "Well, you accomplished your mission. Go report to the Kazekage." Kakashi said as he walked away while grabbing a certain book.

Maya Robuki walked up to Ino and Naruto. "Hey Naruto-san! What was that you did? You turned into fire! And you did too, Ino-san!"

"Ne, Maya-chan! It's my Bloodline Limit! It's cool, huh?"

* * *

TBC

Next chapter will be one on one fights!!! Woohoo! Oh, if you think I should've described Naruto's battle with the five Jounins, I will include it later, but only if you want me to! 17 Pages! Damn, 7000 words! I wanted to reach 10k with this one… In case you're wondering how Kisame could know that Sasuke was there when Zabuza was killed, let's just stay Naruto had told him that…

**Oh! Important notice, by the way!!**  
I'm going to revise the entire TWWIN Series, so it might take a while before I'll update again! Hope you don't mind too much! But I have to re-write a few battles Sasuke had with his developed Sharingan in a few chaps and I always wanted to re-write the Four Sounds' Fights in these Series.

Oh well, I hope you liked this chapter!

* * *


	14. Held Back

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own it, Naruto, I mean.

Author's Note: Another Chapter full of fights!!! So, action freaks, I hope you like it!

Review Replies: This is dangerous as I've seen what could happen to the story... Karrafear's story is full proof! Her story is Restoration of Faith is very good, btw, sequel of Faith in Humanity, go read and review it, damnit!  
Anyway, Yondaime: Don't worry, I won't stop writing! I like writing too much to just stop like that. But many thanks for being interested, man! It means a lot ot me!  
A Suggestion: Yeah.. You're absolutely right... I'll get to that when I'm on that chapter with revising! Thanks for mentioning it!! But yeah, it's that Offensive Jutsus weren't allowed.  
Frontier of Darkness: You're right, Sasuke doesn't use those Sound Jutsus. One, because he thinks they're inferior to the skills he usually uses and two: I didn't make that many up yet, heh... Sorry...  
Well, on with the story!

* * *

Jiraiya and Baki both were interested as they heard the information Aburame Shino had gathered. The appearance of an S-rank Missing-nin means a lot, especially when he appears in a small Country like the Rain. Jiraiya had already appointed one of the Konoha Jounins present to return to Leaf and report to the Fifth about this. Finishing this Jounin Exam was more important and it didn't really have to mean anything that Hoshigaki Kisame appeared.

All the remaining participating Chuunins stood next to each other, facing the Kazekage, pride definitely showing in their faces. Naruto spotted both Gaara and Neji and nodded his greeting towards them. He also spotted his ex-teammates Sasuke and Sakura. It was nice to know they made it as well. He was ready for the Third Test now…

Baki, the Kazekage, stepped forward and eyed every Chuunin in front of him. "All of you managed to get through your bout of missions, it seems… But now, in this Third Test, many Chuunins will fall! You will have a one on one fight against a Jounin. We picked the right Jounin that seems best to handle you."

**There Where When Is Now, Book Three**

_Chapter Fourteen: Held Back._

Baki loudly coughed once again to gain the attention from everyone in the room. There were still a lot of Chuunins left, more than he had anticipated. But most of the Chuunins would fall against the Konoha and Suna Jounins they have to fight. And… he himself would also be fighting against one of the Chuunins and so would the legendary Jiraiya…

"We will begin immediately! You've had one day to rest since your last Test so you should be ready. The missions that were given to you in the previous Test were relatively easy, so if you were in any way injured or hindered to continue your participation, you're out of this Exam. That… is why I am surprised that there are this many Chuunins left…" Baki commented as he gave Jiraiya the room to speak.

"Jounins will take you on in this next Test, but… I and the Kazekage will also take one of you on! You will not be prepared, since we will announce the participant who is to fight immediately! Also, there are two rules! The first one is no Doujutsu and the second is no killing!!" Jiraiya paused and smirked. "All matches will take place in this room!" Jiraiya and everyone else eyed the huge room they were in. There was no waiting area or place for any crowd. But there was enough room for a fight to take place. "The first match will be me… versus… Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto blinked as he heard his name being called. 'Me versus Jiraiya? Interesting...'

Neji frowned and inwardly grumbled. 'Man... I wanted him as my opponent…'

Sasuke's pattern of thoughts was different. 'No Doujutsu? That means no Mangekyou Sharingan for me… But I can use my Sharingan.' Sasuke eyed some of his opponents. 'I've fought Chouji and Ino… Chouji can't use his Family Jutsus… and Ino can't use hers either… So I don't have to worry about Jutsus like his Nikudan Sensha or her Shintenshin. Sakura can pretty much do whatever she wants…'

Neji's thoughts also wondered away from wanting to have Jiraiya as his opponent to the rule 'No Doujutsu.' 'Kiba isn't allowed to use Gatsuuga or Garouga, but he IS allowed to use Soutourou, because it's another form, not a follow-up Ninjutsu based on his Family Jutsu. And he can use Sankontessou, because it's no Inuzuka Technique. Ten-Ten is pretty much allowed to do everything she can do.' Neji paused as he went over his and Hinata's possibilities. 'We are allowed to use Byakugan… But we can't use Kaiten or our Tenketsu Attack. However, the Chakra Chuubu is a revised version of how we use the Chakra to perform the Kaiten, so it's allowed. Hmm, I can't use my Distance Tenketsu Attack either, which is a real advantage for me. But… we are allowed to use the Jyuuken fighting style, since it's no form of Ninjutsu. It's a form of Taijutsu based on our Bloodline Limit… So in a way, the Hyuga have a major advantage with this rule…'

Naruto grinned at Jiraiya, who grinned back. The two powerful Shinobis stood face to face in the centre of the big room. The room was similar to the one where the preliminary test of the first Chuunin Exam was taken. Naruto's eyes narrowed as Jiraiya threw the main vest he wore away and watched it make a hard impact on the ground. Then, Jiraiya took off his sandals and kicked them away. He continued to throw away several other parts of his clothes as all were heavy-weighted. "Aah… Alright, Naruto… I want you to know I've been training my ass off before the Akatsuki War. You haven't seen my real strength since then. I want to find out how I manage against you… I will not go easy on you!"

Naruto chuckled. "I don't expect you to."

Jiraiya turned away from Naruto to face the remaining Chuunins again. "The examiner is the Jounin who is facing you… Or in this case… the Sannin…"

Naruto waved both his arms. "Let's start this already, Ero-Sennin!"

Jiraiya immediately glared at Naruto. "You're asking for it!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he saw Jiraiya disappear. While trying to pinpoint Jiraiya's whereabouts, Naruto did a few handseals and grinned. He had already located Jiraiya and saw that he was about to do a Jutsu, but had stopped when he saw him doing this particular set of handseals. 'Hm, he noticed that I activated my Bloodline Limit…' Naruto grinned as he could almost smell the curiosity coming from Neji, Gaara and Sasuke…

Naruto evaded a sudden kick to his shins by taking a small jump backwards as Jiraiya appeared beside him in a crouched form. Naruto followed up with a simple roundhouse kick across the floor. Jiraiya wanted to just dodge, but saw that Kunais were held by Chakra under Naruto's shoes. Jiraiya quickly grabbed a set of Kunais, dodged the roundhouse kick and deflected the Kunais from Naruto with his own. Jiraiya found out Naruto had moved again and spotted him right above him. Descending, Naruto wore a terrible grin and announced the next technique. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!"

Jiraiya watched amazed as a Shadow Clone appeared in front of him and tried to punch him in the ribs. Jiraiya blocked and punched through the clone, just in time to block two fists holding Kunais from above as Naruto landed on Jiraiya. Jiraiya was about to throw the real Naruto away, but his eyes widened as the 'real' Naruto suddenly vanished with a puff of smoke as well. Jiraiya quickly somersaulted out of the small cloud created by the disappearance of the second Shadow Clone.

Jiraiya sensed Naruto behind him and immediately did a few handseals. "Nijuu Kuchiyose no Jutsu!!"

Naruto was curious to what Jiraiya had summoned and waited for the smoke to clear out. 'Two toads?'

Jiraiya smirked as indeed, two toads, as big as Jiraiya himself, were seated on each side of him. He made both toads spread out through the arena and performed a few handseals. "Alright, one oil!!"

One toad blurted out a lot of oil towards Naruto, who was confused by the attack. Until he saw Jiraiya blow fire all of a sudden. "Katon, Gamayo Endan!! Second oil!!"

Naruto's eyes widened as the second toad joined in with the oil spurting and the fire, which was already huge, grew in size even more… Naruto had nowhere to go, so he quickly went underground. Even underground, Naruto felt the heat of the attack. He dug himself closer to Jiraiya when a thought came to him. 'Aw crap! I had my Bloodline Limit activated… I didn't even HAVE to dodge! Damnit! Waste of effort! Might as well deactivate my Bloodline Limit now…' All of a sudden, Naruto suddenly saw Jiraiya's face right in front of him and he was... grinning.

The bystanders were looking at a battlefield with a lot of smoke as Jiraiya's fire attack had died down. And then they were surprised to see Naruto getting rammed out of the ground towards the ceiling, with a white blur following. A second later, Naruto was knocked back into the ground. He immediately jumped to his feet but noticed Jiraiya was descending towards him again.

The blur of fists that followed were easy to follow for Naruto as he either dodged or blocked them. Naruto attacked Jiraiya back with punches and kicks himself and managed to land more hits than the Sannin. Jiraiya, realizing he was at a disadvantage up-close, jumped back and announced to next technique. "Let me show you a nice technique, Naruto! A technique I taught to the Yondaime!" Jiraiya paused as he gathered Chakra. "Harinezumi!!"

Naruto frowned as Jiraiya's long hair hardened a great deal and surrounded his entire body. 'Ultimate defense…' Naruto observed as the spikes in Jiraiya's hair penetrated the stones on the ground. 'And a powerful offense too… I don't want to get stabbed by those spikes of his…' There was no time as Jiraiya rushed forward in amazing speed. Naruto's eyes widened. 'His speed has increased!' He thought, before he quickly jumped out of the way and saw Jiraiya go through the wall and back again, facing him again.

'I see… This attack of his goes on until I find some way to stop it… if I don't, I'll eventually get hit, because… His speed is slowly increasing by the seconds… What a devious attack… He should learn this one to me…' Naruto thought as he continued to dodge Jiraiya's Hedgehog Mode and tried to figure out a way to deal with it.

Naruto's eyes widened a great deal as he watched the spikes in this particular for of Jiraiya expand towards him as he soared by him. Naruto was about to get hit, until red Chakra appeared and didn't allow the spikes to come too close to him, but Naruto did get knocked backwards, as Jiraiya was moving with too much force. 'Damn… If he can see me through his hair, he can actually use his Chakra to expand his hardened hair towards me…'

Naruto quickly prepared himself as he sensed Jiraiya turn towards him again. 'A weak version… Still somewhat dangerous, so I have to be careful…' Naruto thought as he formed a small blue round orb of Chakra in his hands. "Rasengan!!"

Naruto was amazed to see the Rasengan fail in its mission and Naruto got knocked backwards again, but wasn't hurt, courtesy to his absolute defense. Jiraiya jumped out of his Hedgehog form and faced Naruto. "Heh! The Rasengan is actually a practice to master this final technique. The Harinezumi… It's actually a skill created by and only for the Clan I originate from… But when I saw The Fourth create the Rasengan by himself, I noticed this was a shortcut to learning the Harinezumi… Yondaime had actually created a technique all by himself and it more than impressed me… But… I had to help him with the Harinezumi…" Jiraiya paused as he noticed the massive curiosity coming from Naruto.

"My Harinezumi was more powerful than the Yondaime's… Because it suits my Bloodline… But the Yondaime's was powerful as well, because of his ability to adapt his own Chakra System to every single Chakra Type. Yours will be the same as the Yondaime's, if you ever master it…" Jiraiya said with a grin and continued. "For you and the Fourth, the Harinezumi means massive Chakra usage. For me, it means less, because the blood in my body arranges the set for the skill automatically, and my hair does the rest. Let's see if you can beat my Harinezumi in any way, Naruto!" Jiraiya ended as he put himself in his Hedgehog-Stance again and rushed forward.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. 'If my normal Rasengan doesn't work…' In Naruto's right palm, now, a red orb of Chakra was formed… 'Perhaps my second version of the Rasengan will…'

Jiraiya had noticed the red orb through his hair as he was spinning towards Naruto. 'That Rasengan… This new one… I sense it's a lot stronger… Will it be strong enough to stop me? Let's test it!!'

Naruto's eyes widened as Jiraiya surrounded himself with a lot of Chakra. 'He's using all his Chakra to make his attack stronger!' Naruto grinned. 'Now I won't have to be afraid of hurting him too much…' Naruto's grin disappeared as Jiraiya came closer. 'But what if this Rasengan isn't strong enough either? I don't want to transform… no one knows…'

His mind fell completely silent as Jiraiya was getting very close. Red Rasengan versus Full powered Harinezumi…

The grounds trembled by the impact and debris was dancing across the area and from the ceiling, rubble fell. On huge rock fell on top of Chouji's head, but he didn't really notice as he was too busy eating.

Baki was amazed at the display of power of the two Shinobis before him. 'Their techniques are crazy… I wonder if we have to do the other matches someplace else… This arena might not survive their battle…'

The other participating Chuunins were even more wide-eyed than the Kazekage. A Chuunin was actually equally fighting with one of the Sannin! Sasuke had noticed that both techniques that were used couldn't be copied. 'I can't wait to fight Naruto again… If I am closer to be the victor, I am closer to getting stronger than Itachi…'

Neji activated his Byakugan to see through the smoke. 'Naruto… I hope I'll be able to fight you in this Exam…'

Temari and Kankurou were both standing close to Gaara and noticed that he was getting excited. "Impressive… Right, Gaara?" Kankurou nervously said.

Gaara nodded. "Yes… The only opponent worthy of my attention in this Exam… is Uzumaki Naruto. I hope to battle him in this Exam."

Temari smiled and folded her arms. "Tcheh, That is, if he gets through this part of the Exam. He's facing Jiraiya-sama, the strongest Shinobi present here." Temari paused, turned away from the smoke and took a look at Gaara. "But then again… That guy's not normal, is he? And, he's not going fully out…"

"Naruto will win…" Gaara stated. 'His hesitation before… He has the same trump cards I have…'

As the smoke cleared, both Shinobis were on the ground, panting from the explosion. Jiraiya and Naruto were both quick to get up again and faced each other again.

"D-Damn… You actually managed to force me out of my Harinezumi… No one has ever done that before… Not even that crazy woman from the Akatsuki…" Jiraiya said, while panting. "Alright… Let's try a different approach."

Naruto had already stopped panting and was now grinning. "Heh, that Harinezumi of yours… I want to learn it!"

Jiraiya grinned back. "Don't worry, you will. But for now… Let's end this!" He said while performing handseals and leaping around the arena.

Naruto closed his eyes and followed Jiraiya's movements. 'Damn… I still forgot to deactivate my Bloodline Limit…' Naruto thought as he quickly did the hand seals again.

"Katon, Karyu Endan!!" Jiraiya screamed as he was hovering above Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened as the huge stream of fire was directed towards him. 'S-shit! And I just deactivated my Bloodline Limit!!'

Jiraiya grinned as Naruto pulled a Kawarimi at the last moment, using mud from the ground. 'Good, he still knows how to perform the easier techniques… It was stupid to deactivate his Bloodline Limit, though… It gave me the perfect chance.' He thought as he watched his previous Fire attack make a huge impact on the ground.

As Naruto re-appeared on the other side of the arena, he was quick to notice Jiraiya behind him and ducked to avoid getting hit by Jiraiya's left knee. Rolling forwards, Naruto threw back three Kunais and turned around to face Jiraiya again, who caught the three Kunais.

Naruto grinned. "Bakuretsu…"

Jiraiya's eyes widened as the three Kunais in his hands exploded. He barely had time to do Kawarimi himself. A loose stone was close by.

Naruto chuckled, even when he knew Jiraiya wasn't hit. "Those Kunais were simple explosion tags, hidden by simple Henge, with Kage Bakuretsu Bunshin no Jutsus, so the explosion would be extra hard. But, you weren't hit, anyway."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes as he slipped into a fighting stance again. 'So he knows Kage Bakuretsu Bunshin… Itachi must have taught him that one…' He thought, while in the crowd, another Sharingan user had copied the skill.

Naruto smirked as another idea came to him. "Taiyuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!"

The entire area was covered in smoke and the only ones who could see everything were the Hyugas present in the arena. Jiraiya prepared himself for the worst and kept his guard fully up. 'He's doing a massive Clone Gathering here… '

As the smoke in the arena cleared, again, Jiraiya's eyes, and everyone else's, widened by the amount of clones around them. Even the other participating Chuunins were surrounded by clones. Some were thinking it was a Genjutsu, but why would Naruto put everyone under Genjutsu? Sasuke had seen Naruto do this before so he wasn't particularly impressed by it and Neji was just shaking his head. 'Showing off as always, eh, Naruto?'

Baki had a sweatdrop on the side of his head as he, too, was surrounded by Naruto Shadow Clones. 'What a sick amount of clones…'

Jiraiya chuckled nervously. "What a waste of Chakra, Naruto…" Jiraiya said as he did a few handseals. "A big elemental attack could wipe out great numbers like this in instants…"

All Naruto's chuckled as they began leaping over and around Jiraiya, occasionally attacking him as well. "But do you have the time to do so?" One of them whispered as he passed Jiraiya.

Jiraiya snarled and began kicking and punching all around him, securing some free space as Clones disappeared by a simple touch. 'No, he's up to something… He's created this many clones for a purpose… but for what?' Jiraiya jumped in the air and did a few handseals. "Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!!"

As expected, a large cloud appeared where once Clones were. Jiraiya smirked as he landed where he had fired his latest technique. 'Still so many clones left…' Jiraiya thought as he was attacked again and again.

Horizontally, Jiraiya fired off another technique. "Katon, Housenka no Jutsu!!" Fireballs flew off towards different directions, but Jiraiya was careful not to hit innocent bystanders, such as the Kazekage… or some Chuunins.

Jiraiya smirked as he had dealt with a lot of Clones already. He smirked as he had already sensed the real Naruto and rushed towards him. All of a sudden, a normal stone on the ground transformed with some smoke into another Naruto Clone and caught Jiraiya right in the face. Jiraiya was knocked backwards and was pretty amazed. 'He created Shadow Clones and this one apparently transformed itself into a stone… Pretty smart…'

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at his surroundings. 'Makes you think what else he has pulled off now… Maybe more stones are Shadow Clones using Henge… I have to be careful…'

"I thought you wanted to end this?" One of the Narutos in front of him yelled.

Jiraiya glared at Naruto, but smirked shortly after. "Heh, you've become pretty devious with your tricks… With this trick, you've made sure I can't attack you without thinking… I have to be cautious… But…" Jiraiya grinned as he performed a few handseals. "Kuchiyose, Yatai Kuzushi!!"

From above both Jiraiya and Naruto, and all others, just below the ceiling… a huge toad appeared and it landed harshly on the ground. Lots and lots of Clones disappeared with this move, including a lot of Clones that had themselves transformed into stones on the ground. Jiraiya grinned and let the toad hop around the arena to crush all the stones around him.

'Now… was this his main idea?' Jiraiya thought as he leaped upwards to land on the frog. Jiraiya's eyes widened as five Naruto's were already on top of the toad and attacked Jiraiya immediately.

Jiraiya dodged all the attacked by leaping upwards. Gathering Chakra to his feet, he hung upside down on the ceiling. That was, until many stones on the ceiling transformed into another set of Shadow Clones. 'Naruto, do you have this entire arena covered with your clones?!' Jiraiya thought as he plummeted towards the ground again. Jiraiya's toad disappeared just when Jiraiya's face connected with the ground. One Naruto grabbed Jiraiya's right leg, just a second after Jiraiya landed, but found out it was a simple Kawarimi again. Jiraiya appeared behind the Naruto that had 'grabbed' him and made him disappear by kicking him.

Jiraiya looked upwards, even when he knew that about five Shadow Clones were approaching him. 'Jeez, you've become really good at using your Shadow Clones, Naruto…'

"Hari Jizou!!" Jiraiya yelled on which his hair expanded and hardened and dealt with the clones that WERE approaching him. Naruto made all the remaining Shadow Clones disappear and faced Jiraiya again.

"Fun, wasn't it?" Naruto said with a chuckle. "But this fight has taken long enough now…"

Jiraiya nodded his head and smiled. "I agree…"

At that moment, the entire ceiling exploded and hundreds of Shadow Clones were descending towards Jiraiya and Naruto. Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Naruto, you…!"

Naruto grinned and did a few handseals. "Heh, you might consider it lame, but…"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes as he recognised the seals Naruto had made. As the Clones all landed around him, he knew what Naruto was about to do. 'Damn, this is going to hurt…'

"Taiyuu Kage Bakuretsu Bunshin!!!"

A huge explosion followed in the middle of the arena and both Naruto and Jiraiya were caught in the middle. Naruto had waited on purpose and had waited for Jiraiya to stand in the middle of the arena to do this.

When the smoke cleared, for the third time, Naruto was scratching the back of his head with a grin plastered on his face and seemed totally unharmed. Jiraiya on the other hand, was panting and was in great pain. 'Ughh…'

"Sorry for the explosion…" A voice from behind Jiraiya came, before he got knocked out.

Baki eyed the remains of the arena and shook his head. 'I should have expected this to happen when I chose these two to fight each other… But there really was no other choice…'

Baki walked up to Naruto and motioned for a few medic-nins standing by the sidelines to pick up the unconscious Jiraiya. 'Jiraiya doesn't seem really hurt, Naruto knew what he was doing, it seems…' Baki thought as Jiraiya got carried away on a stretcher and he faced Naruto. "Good match, Uzumaki Naruto… Though you could have left this arena a bit more… intact." Baki said as he looked up at the ceiling. "At least you didn't destroy the ceiling…"

Naruto nervously chuckled. "Err… Yeah, sorry. About the ceiling… I put another layer of Clones using Henge under the real ceiling. I'm lucky Jiraiya didn't notice it when he was hanging there upside down."

Baki turned away from Naruto and smiled. "Anyway, I'm in the next match… And the Chuunin facing me is… Gaara… Please leave the fighting area, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened. 'Gaara's next? Good, good! I can watch his new abilities, then!' He thought as he happily left to join the other Chuunins at the sidelines. Gaara walked forward and both young men smiled at each other with daring grins, both itching to fight each other…

* * *

Gaara entered the centre of the arena and stared at Baki, his former sensei, with cold, calculating eyes. "Don't expect me to hold back because you're the Kazekage."

Baki smiled and unfolded his arms, threw away the Kage Cloak and hat. "I don't. However, I think you must know that I have improved a lot in the last years… Don't think I'm still the weak Shinobi I was when I was your Jounin sensei."

Gaara smirked. "Good. I hoped as much. Let's begin, then."

Baki narrowed his eyes and slipped into a fighting stance. 'Still, it's somewhat fearful to face someone as dangerous as Gaara… I'll just have to give him my all… The power of a Kazekage!'

Baki performed many handseals while Gaara just observed his former sensei with his arms folded. "Jiten Kaze Kizu!!"

Gaara's eyes narrowed at the high-levelled technique. 'This Jutsu… Only the Kazekage receives the scroll for this one…'

Gaara's left eye twitched in anger as he saw a Flash of Chakra to his left and a gaping hole in his Shield of Sand. Then, to his right, another Flash of Chakra came and again, a hole was created in his defense. And then Flashes of Chakra, cutting through his defenses, were appearing all around him. 'Hmm… So the power and speed of this increases as time goes…'

Baki was performing handseals again. 'I'm not sure whether that technique is enough for him… I hope this will hold him off bay until I finish the sequence for the next technique…'

Gaara silently activated his Barrier of Sand as he noticed his Shield of Sand was slowly falling apart. Then, he started doing handseals himself and focused on Baki, who was also still doing handseals. "Suna Henzuru!"

Baki's eyes widened a great deal as his previous attack penetrated every defense around Gaara and slashed through Gaara's body. Gaara's arm fell off but got back on as sand connected it again. Baki's attack continued and slashed through Gaara's stomach, but again, Sand immediately recovered Gaara, who was smirking as he was slowly walking towards Baki.

Baki jumped back and continued doing his handseals. 'Shit… My attack offers no escape for Gaara, but he's mastered the Sand Transformation completely…' He thought as he dodged one of Gaara's Desert Coffins. 'The Jiten Kaze Kizu is useless and continues to drain Chakra…' Baki figured and deactivated the technique. He had stopped doing the handseals for the other technique so he had to it all over again.

"Is that all you've got, Kazekage?" Gaara asked as he folded his arms again. "Now that I have gained the ultimate defense, none of your petty attacks can harm me… My Suna no Tate and Suna no Yoroi had flaws and were surpassed by the Shukaku no Tate… However, even that absolute defense had flaws, as it could be influenced by Chakra Attacks… So I forced myself to master the Suna Henzuru… Every hit against me will be useless, as I literally AM sand…"

Baki smirked as he started doing handseals again. "Is that so?"

Gaara slowly nodded. "Whatever it is you have planned, it is futile." Gaara closed his eyes and did a single handseal. "Sabaku Kyuu!"

Baki dodged the huge hand of sand. He gritted his teeth as from out of hand of sand, many other hands were formed and gripped Baki's body. "Sabaku SouSou!"

Gaara caught some movement to his left and noticed Baki standing there. 'So he used Kawarimi…' He thought as he dropped the sand he had just used to crush the hell out of Baki's replacement… Which was a simple stone.

"Nijuu Sanshu no Jingi!!" Baki yelled and two blades made out of Chakra formed in both his hands. "Gaara… These swords are more powerful than my Jiten Kaze Kizu… They'll affect your blood even when you use the Suna Henzuru. Prepare yourself!"

Gaara nodded and crouched. "Suna Kyuutai!" Sand hardened and formed all around Gaara. "Taiyuu Daisan no Me…" And many Eyes of Sand hovered around him.

Baki grinned and rushed forward. "That's not going to work!" He screamed, jumped and descended towards the massive Sphere of Sand Gaara was now in, with both the Legendary Wind Swords outstretched.

Form within the Dome of Sand, Gaara grinned as well. "Kyuutai no Shuriken!!"

Baki's eyes widened as Sand Shurikens were launched from out of the Sphere. Baki deflected all of them with his sword and still descended towards the Dome.

Gaara narrowed his eyes as he observed Baki with his Eyes of Sand. Baki was now very close. "Kyuutai no Bouchou!" Baki's eyes penetrated the Sphere of Sand just when the entire Dome expanded in size and in no time, Baki found himself close to the ceiling. He accidentally touched the ceiling and next to him, a remaining Naruto Shadow Clone appeared. "Hehe, Oops… Sorry!" He said, before he disappeared with a puff of smoke.

Baki growled before he turned his direction back to his swords, which were stuck in the now huge Sphere of Sand… 'Shit… he tightened the grip of his sand around my hands… I can't get loose… And my swords are inside the Dome…'

Gaara chuckled from within the Dome of Sand. "Your swords were strong enough to penetrate my defenses and actually hurt me, but… Your own power wasn't… Now that you can not use the swords, as they are stuck, you're no longer a threat…" Baki watched Gaara materialize outside of the Sphere, but on top of it… "You're still stuck and I can easily kill you now… But, killing is not allowed… So…"

The next thing Baki saw was darkness…

* * *

Jiraiya was conscious again when he saw Baki get knocked out cold by Gaara. He shook his head with a grin and ruffled his own hair a bit. 'Damn, these guys just keep getting stronger and stronger…' Jiraiya turned his gaze towards Naruto. 'Naruto… We'll have a rematch someday, when we both can go fully out…' Jiraiya coughed as Medic-nins carried the Kazekage out of the centre of the area they were all in and shot a glance towards Temari, who noticed and nodded, as she stepped forward, towards the fighting area.

"Haruno Sakura… You will be my opponent…" She started, with a grin as she stared at the girl who had just flinched. 'Let's see how strong you have become in the last few years, pinkhead…'

Temari frowned as Sakura grinned when she marched towards her. 'Hmm, she seems rather confident… Hardly believable though… Well, let's start this immediately!' Temari thought as she grabbed her fan… But her eyes widened as her fan was now… in Sakura's hands. 'What?!'

"Kamaitachi!!" Sakura yelled as she used Temari's fan.

Temari easily dodged the Wind Attack coming from Sakura. 'When the hell did she get hold of my fan!? And how can she use Kamaitachi?!'

Sakura grinned even more as she continued with a follow-up. "Daikamaitachi!!"

Temari's eyes widened. 'That's impossible!!' But the blonde woman dodged anyway, to walk straight into Sakura's fist. Temari made a harsh impact in the wall, while Sakura ran towards her.

The first thing Temari noticed was that Sakura no longer had her fan in her hands. What was even more surprising as she rose to her feet was that her fan was now on her back again. 'What is this…!? Genjutsu!! My fan was on my back the entire time!!'

Temari jumped away from the wall, when Sakura's fist broke the part of the wall she was leaning against. She had gathered Chakra to her fists to add power to them. 'I'll have to double-check my surroundings… This girl is very talented with Genjutsu!' Temari thought as she glared at the pink-haired girl.

Temari this time gripped her fan tightly and unleashed one of the strongest forms of the Slashing Winds… "Kyodaikamaitachi!!"

Sakura's eyes widened at the lethal wind-attack and hurriedly used a ground technique to bury herself underground. The rest of the people in the arena were saved by a huge wall of hardened sand.

Neji and Naruto turned towards Gaara with a grin. "Sometimes she goes overboard… Especially when she's facing another girl…" Gaara explained. "I knew she would do this…"

Back to the fight, Sakura had hopped through the ground again when she had felt that the Wind attack had died down. Turning to face Temari again, she quickly did a many handseals. "Choukyori Shinkeiki Konran!"

Temari prepared herself, but when she saw Chakra around Sakura's hands, she opened her fan to its fullest. "Bring it, Sakura!"

Sakura grinned and leaped above Temari and threw a few Kunais towards Temari. "Kamaitachi!!"

All Kunais were blown away, but Temari already knew that was not supposed be an attack and turned around to see Sakura's fists both very close. She leaped backwards but was confused to hear Sakura chuckle. As Temari landed, she glared Sakura down. "……!!"

Temari's eyes would widen if they could… 'What did she do?! I… I can't use my mouth! I can't even move my eyes properly!'

Sakura chuckled again. "The Choukyori Shinkeiki Konran forms Chakra around my body, Chakra that seeks out other Chakra… Usually, this attack is only effective when I actually hit you… But because of the advanced usage of the Chakra around my body, I can attack from farther away as well... This technique uses Small Electrical Shocks to confuse the nerves inside your body. Want to move your right eye? It's a possibility you'll move your left ear instead."

'I see… What a clever attack… Definitely brought up as a medic-nin, this one…' Temari thought as she tried to figure out what she could still move properly.

"Unfortunately, my Chakra wasn't able to reach every nerve in your body… I think only your upper-body is affected." Sakura added as she braced herself again. "At least you can't use your fan."

Temari wanted to grit her teeth, but found it to be impossible. 'She's gonna pay for this…' Indeed, Temari realised she could only use her legs in the right way, and everything else below her waist.

Sakura rushed forward and tried to hit Temari again, but Temari jumped up and managed to kick Sakura in the face, resulting in her somersaulting and Sakura flying backwards, landing on her back. Temari landed perfectly, but her arms hang loosely by her sides, while her face leaned really awkwardly to the right. 'Damned girl…' Temari's right arm suddenly moved. 'Wait a minute… If I want to move my neck… my right arm moves… Perhaps I can figure some movements out!' Temari thought, just as Sakura rose to her feet and rushed towards her again.

Sakura's eyes widened as Temari grabbed her by the neck with her right hand and brought her face down on her knee, sending Sakura backwards again. "I'm not going to play nice anymore!"

Sakura glared as she jumped back up and growled slightly, which was strange, coming from her. "Then I won't either!" Sakura yelled back. 'Hmm, so she can use her right arm…'

"Kamaitachi!!" Temari yelled as she swung her fan with her right arm.

Sakura of course, dodged and performed a few handseals again. 'This is so ideal!! She can only use her right arm and hand… So she can't do the Cancel handseals… Perfect timing for Genjutsu!!'

"Kai!!" Temari yelled with a grin, just as she sensed Chakra gathered around her.

Sakura frowned at Temari, who seemed to have figured out how to use her left hand and arm too. 'Damn, she's really good…'

Temari smirked. "I can now use both my arms and hands again… and my mouth too! The only problem is… my neck and…" Temari slightly blushed. 'The damn girl really did affect my entire upper-body!'

Sakura sighed. 'Genjutsu won't work on her anymore… What the mind believes, the body perceives… She's too smart to be fooled! Her Taijutsu is better than mine, too… And my Ninjutsu isn't that good…'

Temari rushed forward, never one known to be patient. Unexpectedly, Temari threw her fan towards Sakura and performed a technique. "Jikankisen Ainuki!"

Sakura's eyes widened as Temari's fan was held up above her with Chakra and started spinning like crazy. All of a sudden, like with the Kamaitachi, Slashing Winds erupted from out of the spinning fan and slashed Sakura all over the place. Her scream echoed through the entire arena. Gaara had already let down his wall of hardened sand.

As the Fan stopped spinning and returned to its owner, Sakura was already unconscious.

* * *

Sasuke watched Sakura being carried away on a stretched and had to admit that the girl had become pretty strong. 'She's not using very powerful attacks, but very effective ones… Up-close she can be as dangerous as a Hyuga…'

Sasuke stopped thinking as a hand landed on his shoulder. He slightly looked up to see huge eyebrows. "Lee. What is it?"

Lee smiled and gave Sasuke the thumbs up. "Sasuke-kun! It seems we'll have our rematch right now!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. 'My opponent is Lee? The last time I sparred with him I couldn't beat him…'

"Let's go…" Lee said as he walked past Sasuke towards the centre of the arena. "We do want to please the crowd by showing them a great fight, right?"

Sasuke smirked. "This time, I'll be the victor, Lee."

Lee smiled as they both stood in the middle of the area. Lee bowed and put his left arm behind him. "Show me how strong you've become, Uchiha Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke nodded his head and returned the bow. "Very well…" He immediately activated his Sharingan and disappeared from view. Lee smirked and could easily follow Sasuke's movements.

'A Sharingan literally predicts your movements… When the opponent looks directly in the Sharingan. It is inevitable to look in your opponent's eyes when fighting him or her… But… A way to fight it is to fight recklessly…' Lee thought. 'This means I fight with the intention to get hit…' He reasoned with himself as he jumped up to intercept Sasuke's movements.

As expected, Sasuke read his movements and planted a fist straight into Lee's face. What Sasuke surprised was that Lee took the blow and managed to land a blow in Sasuke's face as well… As Sasuke awkwardly landed on his feet, Lee landed in front of him. 'What…? He predicted my movements too? He was able to hit me…'

Lee smiled and slipped into his fighting stance again. 'As expected… as soon as he makes a move while he predicts, he can no longer predict…'

Sasuke took a deep breath and steadied himself again. This time, Sasuke moved to attack Lee and predicted the way Lee would dodge. 'Let's see if he can predict my movements now!'

Lee dodged Sasuke's right fist, his left knee and the final right elbow and moved to attack Sasuke, who blocked the headbutt that was the counter for the last elbow with both his hands and jumped over Lee. Lee immediately turned, only to barely dodge Sasuke's roundhouse kick in mid-air, by falling backwards. Using both his hands to launch himself upwards again, Lee met Sasuke, who was still hovering in the air, and planned to use both his feet to kick Sasuke in the chest.

Sasuke managed to turn his body to let Lee soar past him. He quickly did a few handseals. "Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!!" But Lee managed to avoid the wave of flames as he also turned in mid-air.

Sasuke landed on the ground again and smirked. "You're really good to keep up with the Sharingan like this… But it won't take long before I'll hit you…"

Lee landed in front of Sasuke and smirked back. Slipping into his favourite fighting stance, he replied. "I think it's time we no longer hold back."

Sasuke nodded and popped his neck to the right and the left. "Indeed…"

Lee chuckled as he started removing his headband, his waistband, the weights around his ankles and wrists and his Jounin Vest. Throwing it all next to him, Sasuke saw it all make a very deep impact on the ground. 'Those were VERY heavy-weighted… This might become a real hassle… He's become even faster…'

Lee was now in his Genin uniform and looked like the younger Lee again, only like an adult. "Yosh!!! Let's go, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke nodded and both disappeared from everyone's view. Naruto, Neji and Gaara could still easily see the two of them.

Naruto frowned as he saw the speed of Lee. 'Damn… Lee's faster than me… but if I release more… I'm faster…'

This time, it went even faster than before. Lee let himself get hit and hit Sasuke back, this time a lot harder and more effective as all observers saw Sasuke fly straight into the wall. The wall cracked where Sasuke was imbedded. 'Ughh… He's too fast for me to predict his movements to make it a real benefit for me…'

Lee didn't smile as he stared at the angry Sasuke. "Come on, Uchiha Sasuke-kun. I know this is not all you can do!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Damn it… The limits of my own power reach this level still… I can keep up with his speed now, but lack the control of my own body to counter-attack. But I have to get through this Exam… Even if it means…"

Lee's eyes narrowed as he saw the signs of the first level of Curse Seal swimming across Sasuke's skin. 'So… He's going to release it?'

Sasuke's speed now surpassed Lee's as he rushed forward and caught Lee in the face with his right knee. Before Lee could make an impact on a nearby wall, Sasuke grabbed his right leg and threw Lee hard through the ground. Still holding onto Lee's right leg, Sasuke pulled him out of the ground and kicked him hard in the stomach, causing Lee to flail towards the other end of the arena.

Kankurou grumbled as he sidestepped to avoid getting hit by Lee. Temari giggled at Kankurou's reaction and shook her head at Shikamaru, who nodded his head as he stood next to Kankurou and said. "This is just too troublesome…"

A lot of debris came flying out of the wall as Lee rammed himself out of the wall. He stared at Sasuke, who was staring right back. 'Let's see how your Curse Seal goes up against my full usage of the Gates!'

Sasuke's eyes widened as Lee began to emanate huge amounts of Chakra. 'What… What is he doing?! This surpasses me in this level!!'

Lee gritted his teeth as his face heated up and turned dark-red. "Second Gate… Third Gate… Fourth Gate!!" He paused to smirk at Sasuke, but exhaled loudly and continued to grit his teeth. "Fifth Gate… Sixth Gate!!"

Before Sasuke could even understand it, Lee had already hit him three times and Sasuke found himself stuck in the wall again. His nose and probably his jaw too, were broken. He gulped nervously… "Heh, Lee… I didn't even feel it…"

Lee's eyes widened as Sasuke raised his Curse Seal to level 2. "**_Let's see how well we fight each other now… Lee…_**"

Lee nodded and rushed forward again. His attack missed Sasuke, but Sasuke's counterattack, his left knee and right fist, hit nothing but air as Lee was behind him again. Sasuke's wings slapped Lee away, but Lee was quick to rebound and his fists soon came close to Sasuke's face again.

Sasuke, angered, started punching and kicking away at Lee, who dodged and was doing the same thing back, with the same result.

After a small minute, both parties stopped and stared at each other, both not panting. "**_Not bad… I wonder how long you can keep this up?_**"

Lee smiled at the compliment. "Thanks… But you should be worrying about yourself…"

Sasuke popped all his fingers as he vexed them. '**_He's right… The Curse Seal drains Chakra even faster now that Orochimaru actually doesn't want me to have it anymore… I have to be quick, but Lee can keep up with me! This could become difficult…_**'

Lee's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the situation. 'The Curse Seal is draining him of Chakra fast… It's etched on his face he wants to finish it quickly… I'll give him what he wants, but not in the way he wants…'

Sasuke's eyes widened enormously as Lee started screaming again… "Seventh Gate Open!!" Lee huffed and puffed in front of Sasuke, who was too amazed to say something… "Second Gate, Rise!!!!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as Lee gained a lot of power and actually seemed to heal a bit… '**_What… What is this?!_**'

With his Sharingan, Sasuke could barely see Lee move behind him and in front of him. But also to his left and right… '**_Damn… What… My prediction says he's going to hit me on all sides!! Did he use Kage Bunshin?_**'

Sasuke got hit on all sides at the same time and therefore, didn't move from his spot but was in a lot of pain. '**_Damn… All at the same time… What amazing speed he has!_**' Sasuke thought as he fell on his knees.

With his Sharingan, Sasuke saw the same thing, but this time, from below, above and in front of him… Sasuke moved his fist and leg to counter-attack, but found his own power to weak to make a difference in Lee's advance and was blown backwards.

As Sasuke landed on the ground, he coughed out a lot of blood. '**_Damn… I even feel it in this form…_**'

Sasuke used his wings to block the next attack as he saw Lee descend towards him. '**_Without this Sharingan I would have lost already…Lee is still too strong for me…_**'

Those were Sasuke's last thoughts as Lee landed on top of him and knocked him out.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi watched his ex-student getting carried away. 'He still relies on the Curse Seal when he can't win… The Genius Uchiha Sasuke disappeared ever since Orochimaru came… I hope he returns someday…' Kakashi sighed and stepped forward, knowing he was next to take on a Chuunin…

"Hyuga Neji… I am to be your opponent."

Neji almost looked surprised, but hid the look as he looked amused. 'Hatake Kakashi… The famous Copy Ninja, said to know over 10 thousand Jutsus… This could be good…'

'Hyuga Neji… He's equal to the level of a Sannin and it's said he has surpassed the famous Hyuga Dareda… He's definitely stronger than Hyuga Hiashi… This could be interesting…' Kakashi thought as Neji approached him. 'But fighting Hyugas is always such a hassle…'

"I intend to finish this as fast as possible, Kakashi-san." Neji began. "So forgive me… but… Senshin-Byakugan!!"

Kakashi sighed as he revealed his Sharingan. "I guess I have no choice but to want the same, then." He said with a shrug.

Neji seemed to glare at Kakashi, but that was just the way his eyes looked with the Senshin-Byakugan activated. 'Hmm, A lot of Chakra is consumed by his Sharingan… It's draining him in a faster rate than with Sasuke and Itachi… It must be because Kakashi isn't an Uchiha… Also… the scar through the Sharingan is a handicap for him… It actually hurts him when he uses the Sharingan. But judging from the developed muscles around his eye, he must have gotten used to it.' Neji's Byakugan gaze fell on the scars across Kakashi's chest. 'Kakashi's getting old, but he's still a formidable opponent… The scars on his chest and stomach slightly slow down his movements, but his hands… They're made for doing Jutsus… I can understand why he's called a genius.'

"A Genius versus a Genius…. Let's see who's the bigger one." Neji let out as he slipped into the Hyuga fighting stance.

Kakashi nodded. "Very well… Let's see what you have, Hyuga Neji!"

Neji smirked. "First, a test! Enkyori Tenketsu Muchiutsu!"

Kakashi's Sharingan noticed the Chakra strings attached to each of Neji's fingertips. 'Chakra strings? Tenketsu?'

Kakashi's eyes widened as two Chakra strings were whipped towards him, but Kakashi managed to dodge both by ducking backwards and landing on his back. 'That was close… Those Chakra strings were aimed at my opening Points… To be able to use Chakra strings to attack opening points from a distance… I can see why they call him a genius…'

"Impressive, even Hyuga Hiashi was hit by these… But you dodged them. You uphold your reputation after all… Now, let's turn serious…" Neji commented with a smirk.

Kakashi sighed. 'Still, this guy really needs to lighten up…'

Neji rushed forward and attacked Neji with Hyuga Taijutsu, but Kakashi was prepared and unleashed a small water wave to hit Neji in his eyes. Neji dodged, but an opening was created, on which Kakashi threw three Shuriken and a Kunai slightly behind it.

"Kaiten!!" As Neji spun, the three Shuriken hit each other as they were deflected at the same time, just when the Kunai hit all three of them and made them turn back towards Neji. Neji stopped spinning and saw the three Shuriken soar just alongside his head, as he was able to dodge at the last second. 'Clever, the way he fights…'

Kakashi landed behind Neji and performed a few handseals. "Kage Bunshin, Doton Shinjuu Zanshu!"

Neji jumped up to avoid getting grabbed by twenty hands coming out of the ground. "As soon as you hit the ground, you will be pulled under." Kakashi lectured.

Neji smirked as he was still in the air. "Is that so?"

The real Kakashi lazily looked up to see Neji descend again. "I've created Shadow Clones under every spot in this area."

Neji smirked. "Excellent." He wrapped an explosion note around a Kunai and threw it down before he did a few handseals. "Baisuu Chakra Hiketsu!" With that said, Chakra surrounded Neji's hands and Neji started throwing small blue Chakra cloud towards the Kunai with explosion note.

The real Kakashi watched the Chakra clouds pass through the Kunai with explosion note, before it exploded. Then he realised what Neji had done… The Chakra clouds he had thrown nullify anything made out of Chakra… Because of the explosion, those Chakra clouds were spread across the entire area, and underground as the Chakra clouds went THROUGH the kunai before it exploded… 'Clever… He dealt with all my Shadow Clones at once…'

Suddenly, Kakashi felt a huge Chakra drain… 'What?!'

Neji landed in front of him with a grin… "You should be more aware of your surroundings… This is something I learned from one of your students, Uzumaki Naruto." Neji said when he pointed towards Naruto, who suddenly transformed into Neji. "The real Naruto is still one of the stones on the ceiling, but why he wanted to stay there is beyond my understanding… I used this to quickly transform myself into him at the sidelines, so it can't be seen as teamwork. In fact, I'm pretty sure Naruto himself didn't even notice. But then again, no one noticed. You were fighting an advanced Clone who couldn't even use the Senshin-Byakugan properly. But you believed it, and all your concentration went to me, the advanced Clone…"

Kakashi sighed as the Neji who had just explained the first part vanished with a puff of smoke. The real Neji stepped towards Kakashi with a small grin. "I used Sanmai no Jutsu on you, Kakashi-san. You know the technique, right?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, I know the technique too… But to use it like this… It really seems like something Naruto would do…"

The real Naruto suddenly popped up from above them and landed behind Neji. "Wow, Neji! I didn't even notice it!"

Neji shook his head and his expression literally sang 'I told you so…'

"With the Sanmai no Jutsu I can absorb the double amount o Chakra I possess already. Which means, you're almost out of Chakra, Kakashi-san. It would be rather foolish to continue the fight now…"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, you win."

* * *

TBC

Author's Note: Ok, The Naruto Vs. Jiraiya fight was originally a LOT bigger, BUT: The arena still needed to be used after the match, so… Both of them didn't go fully out against each other… Baki went all out against Gaara, but it was rather futile, of course. Temari PWNED Sakura. (I just like Temari (a lot) more) Sorry, Sakura-lovers! But I did make her a lot stronger in TWWIN. The Sasuke Vs. Lee Fight? Why Lee won? Well, because I felt sorry for Lee when Sasuke just stole his style! Still, I did make Sasuke strong enough to be able to keep up with Lee without weights for a long time… And Kakashi Vs. Neji? Well, I think Neji will be stronger than Kakashi in 7/8 years…

Ok, further explanation for:

Sakura's Genjutsu:

Sakura used Genjutsu on Temari the moment she learned she was her opponent. That's why she grinned when she walked towards Temari; She pretended to be surprised. The Genjutsu itself made Temari believe Sakura had her fan and knew her techniques, while in fact, if she hadn't dodged Sakura's 'Wind-attacks', she would have found out those were nothing but illusions and would have passed straight through her. Temari didn't see and feel her fan in the beginning, because Sakura had slightly moved it to the left using Chakra strings (That's why she grinned in the beginning), so Temari would miss it with her hand. The Genjutsu followed after that.

Lee's Gates:

Lee never activated the Eight Gate in my fic, because that one can be lethal. The Second Gate Rise means Heal Gate Rise, so it gives him a stronger, better resistance against the usage of all Seven Gates.

Romance??? Oh! Well, it'll come in between… hehehehe… Sorry, but I'm not much of a romance writer… I just like action more! I'll try to mix in as much as I can! But I still think Naruto is a show where Romance doesn't really play a big role…

New Techniques:

Jiten Kaze Kizu: Spinning Wind Cuts… (Speaks for itself, I think)

Suna Henzuru: Sand Transformation… (Ultimate Defense)

Choukyori Shinkeiki Konran: Long Distance Confusion Attack (Distance Version of the attack Tsunade used on Kabuto)

Kyodaikamaitachi: Gigantic Wind Slashing (The next in advance to the Daikamaitachi)

Jikankisen Ainuki: Spinning Fan Slashing. (The Kamaitachi as a tornado above the opponent)

All other techniques should be known or were already used in on of the two previous books

Ah, tell me what you thought of this chapter… too much action? Too little romance? (as in, none at all… --') Were the fights believable?

Oh, and one thing!!! Important!! The fact that a participant lost against a Jounin doesn't mean that he/she doesn't pass!!!!! He/she can still pass if the abilities shown were good enough!

Whoa… 9025 words… That's a little lot…


	15. Advances

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: Sorry, but I was and am WAY too lazy to describe the other fights of the previous part of the Chuunin Exam. And I figured no one would've liked reading it, anyway. So, here we go, to the last and final part of the Chuunin Exams!

Oh! About the Doujutsu thing! Yes, I was aware it means 'Eye' –techniques… But I figured from that point on, that Eye techniques meant Ninjutsu/Genjutsu/Taijutsu based on Bloodline Limits and Family Blood… For example… Sharingan is allowed and it can be seen as an eye technique… but it's also a Bloodline Limit… Easy as that… Mangekyou Sharingan is an eye technique as well, but it's a technique that needs and relies on the Sharingan, a Bloodline Limit… It isn't really hard to understand… But, now for the Kaiten error on my part: I had Neji say he wasn't allowed to use the Distance 64 point attack and the Kaiten in the beginning. Well, I'll revise the chapter and change the words Neji says in the beginning. Also, the examiner's words will be changed as well. (No offensive Doujutsu allowed) and technically, if you had been paying attention, you'd notice that Neji wasn't REALLY using the Distance 64 points attack.

Another thing is… There will be a new Jutsu List, cause damn… there are a lot of new techniques all of a sudden!! Little question: Do you want me to do the Jutsu List alphabetically Technique-wise or Character-wise…?

For those curious… Naruto and Gaara will be developing and creating a new kind of fighting style as the story continues… A Hanyou Fighting style, lethal as hell, hehehehe….

Oh well. On with the story!

* * *

Jiraiya and Baki were both worn out as they both felt completely beaten up. They were beaten by two very powerful Shinobis moments ago, after all. The last Test would be fun for them, for they simply had to watch the contestants. Participants will have to fight each other, until the other is knocked out or forfeits. Killing your opponent leads to disqualification. 

The charts for the matches looked like this:

Uzumaki Naruto – Nimo Mantu (Grass)  
Jaro Lokin (Stone) – Gaara  
Haruno Sakura – Akisa Agaru (Rain)  
Uwarie Isho – Akimichi Chouji

Uchiha Sasuke – Inuzuka Kiba  
Yamanaka Ino – Keiko Akeru (Sand)  
Hyuga Neji – Maya Robuki (Sand)  
Nishi Odei (Wind) – Hyuga Hinata

It would be quite interesting to watch the outcomes of these matches and the tournament itself. But the matches for this final Test were to be held at the biggest stadium in the Wind Country and it wasn't in Stone Village. The stadium itself was surrounded by vicious sand tornados, difficult to get through. If the participating Chuunins were unable to reach the stadium, they automatically fail the Exam anyway. So it was explained and it would begin a week after tomorrow. For extra preparations and extra rest for the Chuunins.

In the last few months Naruto had gone through a lot of changes and he still needed to perfect the skills he had gained. So, for this little time-off, this week, would be a training-week for him. Then again, it was safe to assume every Chuunin participating would train in this week.

Lee and Gai both travelled to the fiercest part of the desert around Sand Village and trained. Sasuke went training on his own, also in the desert. Sakura and Ino trained together, as did Neji and Hinata. Chouji and Shikamaru simply went eating somewhere, while Kiba and Shino sparred with each other every day. The remaining Jounins from Konoha and Sand simply observed the participants.

  
>

**There Where When is Now, Book 3**  
_Chapter 15: Advances_

  
>

Naruto was panting madly and was frustrated at the same time. He had learned a lot already from a certain 'source', but he had yet to master all the information given to him. His frustration vanished when he sensed a familiar entity close by.

"Gaara."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto turned around to see Gaara with, as usual, his arms folded and greeted him with a grin and a wave of his right hand. "I know why you're here, Gaara."

Gaara nodded. "Good. You should. Our fighting styles… when perfected… They will be very similar."

Naruto nodded as well and sighed. "Did you perfect it already?"

Gaara shook his head and unfolded his arms. "My second match will be against you. I do not wish to train with you for several reasons. One is that I do not want to see your new techniques and I don't want you to see mine. But my advice to you is to perfect this fighting style… Because I will."

Naruto grinned. "Better do it quick, then. We have four days left."

"No need to worry. I will perfect it. No technique has taken me longer than a week to master…" Gaara replied as he turned away from Naruto. "I look forward to our battle, Naruto. I'm sure we'll both enjoy it."

Naruto nodded at Gaara's back and took a look at his right fist. "I'm sure we will too…"

* * *

Sakura and Ino were both seated on the ground, with their backs against each other and panting crazily. 

"I'm not tired, Sakura… Let's continue!" Ino let out, but didn't get up. Everything about her features indicated extreme exhaustion.

With Sakura it was much the same. "I'm not tired either!" Sakura replied, but refused to get up either.

A silence came as both were slowly panting. "Hey… Do you think we should train with other people, Sakura?" Ino asked as she tried to be a little less exhausted by letting out a long sigh.

Sakura tried to shrug, but was too tired to do so. "Perhaps it's a good idea… Who do you want to train with?"

Ino failed to shrug too and hung her head. "Don't ask me… There are so many powerful Shinobis here… Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, Lee-kun, Neji-kun… And the list goes on…"

Sakura succeeded in nodding. "Do you think we'll become Jounins, Ino?"

Ino sighed again and successfully grabbed two soldier pills. "I don't know… But I hope so."

Both girls took in the soldier pills and it took about three seconds for them to recover a little from their exhaustion. "Ne, Sakura? Let's go see if we can find someone who'll help us!"

"Alright!" Sakura replied as both girls rose to their feet, albeit still lazily.

* * *

He had a very big list of attacks under his name, but most of them were useless compared to his favourites. Fire techniques he especially loved using. The Techniques from the Sound would mostly be useless, since most of them required a specific Bloodline, which he didn't have. The Grass techniques he owned were useful, but against the opponents he wished to have, even those would prove to be insufficient. 

He remembered the Shark-like man, or rather, the words he had spoken that day.

_"I can easily avoid your Mangekyou Sharingan and I also have built enough resistance to deal with the Black Fire of the Uchiha Clan."_

Sasuke snarled as he thought of ways to develop the final Doujutsu of the Uchiha Clan. 'Black Fire…' He also tried to forget the fact that he got beaten that day as well. "Black Fire… How did Itachi develop it? Damn it…"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and powered up Chidoris in both his palms. 'The list of people to kill is short, but difficult… Orochimaru and Itachi… They'll both fall.'

Sasuke smirked and slapped both Chidoris into one by clasping his hands together. 'Kakashi… You never would have thought of it, because it takes a lot of Chakra… But with the Chidori itself… I've developed an ultimate defense and offense at the same time…' He thought as the small lightning bolts from the Chidori surrounded Sasuke as he had his hands clasped together.

'It takes a lot of Chakra, and as soon as I separate my hands, the field of the Chidori will diminish… I still need to perfect it, because it takes a lot of Chakra, too much to be just defensive…'

* * *

Naruto took a look at his surroundings and shook his head at the destruction he had created. He knew he had become really powerful in these last few years, but it was really difficult to keep that much power in check. He sighed and scratched his head through his long blonde locks. Naruto had become a true mirror image of the Fourth. Especially now that his whiskers were gone. 

He had heard the Fourth wore a White robe when he was Hokage. Naruto simply wore his Chuunin uniform now, of course, but off-duty he usually wore his dark red cloak. It reminded him of his good times with Sasuke's brother and the others.

Around him, trees were nothing but chunks of wood, big boulders were now very small stones and smoke still rolled off the ground from recently performed techniques.

"Ino-chan… I can smell and sense you. I'd recognise that horrible smell of perfume anywhere." He suddenly called out.

The blonde Kunoichi appeared behind him and shook her head. "You'll never learn how to appreciate women, will you, Naruto-kun?"

"I guess not." Naruto turned around and took in the shape Ino was in. 'Hmm, she's been training and from the looks of it, pretty hard, too.' Naruto smiled. "Getting ready for the Final Test?"

"Yeah… I've been practicing with Sakura." Ino shook her head as she observed their surroundings as well. "Tcheh, you haven't changed much at all, have you? You still demolish things around you. Prankster."

Naruto shrugged and chuckled. "Yeah, I guess." He responded as he scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I want to train with you." She bluntly answered. "You can resist the Kusanagi's poison and you can easily free yourself from every bind my Family Technique offers."

Naruto tilted his head to the side and smiled. "So I can assist you… But… How will you be able to help me?"

"Depends… What are you working on?" Ino replied and yawned at the same time, not bothering to hold her hand in front of her mouth..

Naruto walked passed Ino and stopped when his back was turned towards her. "It doesn't matter… I almost have it mastered. But you can help me with some extra… 'prank skills', as you might call it."

Ino shook her head at him, but she was smiling.. "Tomorrow?"

Naruto slightly turned his head and looked at Ino over his shoulder as he nodded. "Tomorrow. Now, let's go home! I can see you're tired as hell!"

* * *

The next morning, Sakura was fully focussing on creating a Genjutsu to trap the Kunoichi in front of her. Her forehead was wet and her head was a bit dishevelled because of the extreme concentration. "Is…is it… working?" The pinkhead asked through gritted teeth. 

"No."

'Damn all of it!!' Inner Sakura screeched as Sakura tried again and harder. 'Fooling Byakugan users with Genjutsu is just too close to impossible.'

Hyuga Hinata just smiled as she looked through another set of illusions with her Senshin-Byakugan. 'Still, with just a Byakugan, she could have fooled me.'

Hinata had come very far. Compared to her Genin days, she was a Sannin right now. With no blind spot, she practically had no weaknesses. Developing mostly the same defences Neji had gained, she would even give Neji a hard time. Everyone had come so far… It was time for a Reunion… on the battlefield… against each other.

* * *

"Katon, Karyuu Endan!!" 

A gigantic stream of fire danced across the desert Sasuke was on. Right in front of him, a huge wave of Sand was coming his way, with behind the wave, a grinning Gaara.

Neji was seated 'on the sidelines' and just observed the stream of fire and the sandwave with his Byakugan. 'Sasuke's growing rapidly… That fire attack is actually stopping Gaara's Sandwave…' Neji jumped up form the ground and smirked. 'Time to join…'

Sasuke stopped breathing fire as he caught movement to his left. Neji was approaching him in a fast pace. Turning his attention back to the huge wave of Sand, Sasuke quickly jumped away, with Neji in hot pursuit.

Gaara observed from a distance as the two raced after each other, occasionally shooting a technique at each other. He grinned and closed his eyes. 'Here we go again…' He thought, before he too, joined the 'battle.'

Sasuke soared backwards with Neji approaching him. In less than a second, he gritted his teeth to stop his own movement to stop getting hit by Neji's right foot, as Neji had appeared behind him. Blocking Neji's kick, Sasuke turned to see nothing but a log and Neji descending towards him from above. Frowning in annoyance, Sasuke glared at Gaara for interfering, as the red-haired man tackled Neji in mid-air, before Neji could even touch Sasuke. As the both of them rocketed towards the ground, Sasuke quickly followed.

"Oooh, they're at it again… Too bad I can't join them." Naruto pouted as he watched the trio fight.

Ino faked a pout as well as she stood next to him, also watching the sparring match of the trio. "What, you'd rather be with them than with a beautiful woman like myself?"

Naruto shrugged. "Actually, I think I do. You smell like perfume all the time, even when you're supposed to reek of sweat. And… you can't really challenge me in a fight."

Ino snorted. "You should be honoured you can train with me. I'll show you how good I really am!"

Naruto seemed sceptical as he glanced sideways at the blonde next to him. "Sure you will…" The duo walked away from the three fighting men.

"Why is he not joining us?" Gaara asked as he paused in participating in the sparring match and watched the duo walk away from them..

Neji appeared next to him and Sasuke behind him. "I think he's going to train with that blonde girl." Neji answered as he frowned, also staring at Naruto and Ino in the distance.

Sasuke shook his head. "Blockhead… He's totally slacking off…"

Neji shrugged. "We're pretty old already… Still not Jounins… One might wonder if we'd ever have children…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned away from Neji and Gaara. Gathering Chakra, he formed a small Chidori, which he preferred calling Raikiri and walked away, while creating a second Raikiri.

"Children…" Gaara said without any emotion in his voice. "The world seems to be a better place…"

* * *

And then, just like that, the week had ended and everyone was well rested and ready for the Final Test of the Jounin Exam. Kakashi was observing his previous students as they rolled into the fighting area for the Jounin Exam, also a stadium. Haruno Sakura wasn't the little girl he remembered, not the girl who was too busy with being infatuated with another but she was… grown up and surely the Shinobi he expected her to become. Uzumaki Naruto was still the energetic young kid in a young man, but more restrained. Kakashi didn't know whether he was grown up or not, but he sure has become powerful. Uchiha Sasuke was still calculative and very bright, always seeing the complicated things around him as steps to become stronger. 

Those three would be very amusing to watch in this Exam. With Sakura he could still intervene, but as the Referee, he could do nothing to stop Sasuke or Naruto during the matches. He turned his glance towards two other Shinobis who would prove to be too powerful for him if they were to be stopped during the matches. Hyuga Neji and Gaara…

"It's too bad I'm not facing you, Gaara. It would be very interesting to see how well I would fare against you now." Neji said as the two of them just stepped into the waiting room of the Stadium.

Gaara nodded. As always, he had his arms folded over each other. "Indeed. It displeases me I have no match against you, Neji… I would have liked to beat you."

Neji smirked. "Ah, we all have come a long way… You have become twice as strong thanks to Shukaku… But ultimate defenses will always be ultimate…"

"All defenses will eventually crumble…" Gaara said, ending the conversation.

A little farther away, Naruto and Sasuke were slowly strolling towards the railing of the waiting room, so they could overlook the arena they would be fighting in. "I expect to face you in the Finals…"

"Oh? Are you sure you can get passed Neji?"

Sasuke frowned at Naruto. "I've become a lot stronger… Like him, I have developed an absolute defense…"

Naruto grinned. "Interesting… I've always liked destroying absolute defenses…"

Sasuke snorted. "You won't break mine."

Just then, Sakura joined them, leaning against the railing as she arrived. "Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun! Are you ready for the Exam?"

"Yes." Sasuke answered.

"Of course, Sakura-chan! I'm so going to kick everyone's ass!" Naruto said, pushing himself away from the railing and giving Sakura a thumbs-up. "I'm going to kick Sasuke's ass, too!"

Sasuke grinned as he lightly pushed himself off the railing as well. "You wish. As I said, I've become a lot stronger."

'Always rivals…' Sakura genuinely smiled at the two of them. "Well, good luck!"

"Hn." Sasuke replied.

"You too, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled. A short distance away, Neji shook his head at Naruto's loudness.

"Oy, Naruto!" A feminine voice came from behind as Naruto was tapped on the shoulder.

Naruto turned around to see Ino standing there, with a brilliant smile on her face. "Hiya, Ino-chan! So, you're going to use your new techniques today, huh?"

Ino nodded her head, eyes closed and still carrying a smile. "Yup! Are you guys ready to lose against me?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, then he frowned, then he shook his head and he ended it with a snort.

Sakura laughed. "Ha! You're up against Sasuke if you win your first match, Ino! Don't talk too big!"

Ino stared at Sasuke for a second, before turning back to Sakura. "I've got some tricks to fool the Sharingan…"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at Ino and Naruto. 'Did Naruto teach her about the Sharingan when they trained?' Sasuke paused in his thoughts… 'How come Naruto knows so much about it, anyway?'

* * *

"Silence everyone!" Kakashi suddenly shouted. It was weird, because it was also a bit muffled because of the mask he was wearing. "The rules for this last Exam are simple. This Test consists of one-on-one fights. If you kill your opponent, you are disqualified; I don't care whether you did it on purpose or accidentally. If your opponent gives up or declines battle, the other wins and goes to the next round. You're allowed to use soldier pills and all kinds of Shinobi Tools." Kakashi stared everyone down with only his one eye. "I do hope you all understand, because I will not repeat myself. Now then, Uzumaki Naruto… Mantu Nimo… Please jump down in the arena and let the first match-up begin!" 

As Naruto landed next to Kakashi, he couldn't help but grin. "You'd better show your other eye, Kakashi-sensei… I doubt you'll be able to keep up without it…"

Kakashi closed his eye and shook his head. "Let me be the judge of that…"

Naruto observed his opponent as he appeared before him. 'Grass Shinobi… I can't see it, but I sense he's gathering Chakra around his hands… Also, I sense Chakra being formed underneath me…' Naruto frowned. 'But the match hasn't even started yet… What a cheater…'

Kakashi glanced at each participant, before he closed his eyes and swung his right arm from above to below, indicating the start of the match. "Begin!"

Naruto smirked and poured Chakra from his feet into the attack that was being formed beneath him. His smirk grew as he saw the confusion on his opponent's face. "Hey, I'm assuming we're both above Chuunin level, seeing that we both made it this far… Don't think I can't sense an attack being formed underneath me."

The Grass Shinobi glared at Naruto before performing a few handseals. "I'll show you how 'above' Chuunin level I am!! Taiyuu Kusaba Bunshin!"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as his opponent created over twenty Clones, who awfully smelled like grass. 'Grass Bunshins… Let's even the odds a bit.' Naruto did one handseal with both his hands. "Kage Bunshin!"

The area was filled with more than twenty Shadow Clones and Grass Clones. Naruto frowned as he watched about half of the Grass Clones literally reform themselves, meaning that they changed their own arms and faces into hardened and sharp grass, which penetrated more than half of his Shadow Clones… 'Damn, those Clones are pretty dangerous…'

"Afraid, you cocky bastard?" The Grass Shinobi called out. "I'll rip you to shreds!!"

Naruto frowned again, remembering that killing wasn't allowed. "Just for thinking you can actually rip me apart I will end this match quickly!"

The Grass Shinobi didn't have time as three new Shadow Clones suddenly appeared around him and kicked him into the air. In mid-air, the Shinobi met Naruto's right foot.

As he landed, he saw that the Shadow Clones were dodging his Grass Clones' attacks with ease. 'Hmm, this guy's pretty good, too…'

"Rasengan!!" Naruto screamed as he flew through every Grass Clone in front of him.

The Grass Shinobi's eyes widened. 'My Grass Clones aren't easily defeated… Yet he's doing it with ease… What IS that Chakra in his hand?'

Naruto made all of his Shadow Clones disappear and faced the real Nimo again. "Show me what other techniques you possess."

Nimo rose to his feet and wiped the blood off his chin. "I'll admit that you're good. Let's see how good you really are…" He whispered as he gathered all of his Chakra.

Naruto's eyes narrowed and a grin appeared on his face. 'Interesting… He's Jounin level already…'

"This is my third time participating in a Jounin Exam! I shall not lose!" The Grass Shinobi shouted. "Hatsuiku Karamiu!!"

Naruto, interested, watched on as Nimo's fingertips all changed into grass or twigs. "Unlike other Grass Shinobis who use this technique, I use my entire body to perform it. You will not be able to escape it this way…"

Naruto jumped sideways to avoid getting hit by a huge branch, which was formerly known as Nimo's right arm. The blonde haired Shinobi immediately had to duck to avoid getting wrapped by another branch. Performing hand seals, Naruto jumped high above Nimo. "Ryouganku no Jutsu!!"

Nimo's eyes widened as a huge stream of Lava erupted from Naruto's mouth. He quickly jumped sideways, cancelling every transformation on his body while doing so. He watched as the lava sank into the ground he was in. 'Damn… His attacks are strong enough to penetrate through the ground… and me… He's also Jounin Level…'

Naruto landed on the ground again. "Let's get serious now…"

Nimo nodded his head. "I agree. I'll show you the full potential of this attack…"

>

In the waiting area… Sasuke was staring at the Grass Shinobi. 'I know the Hatsuiku Karamiu as well… But his body allows him to make the technique more deadly… Thanks to his Bloodline Limit, he can actually make his entire body grass… But… It seems like a pretty useless Bloodline Limit to me, anyway.'

'Tcheh, Naruto's just playing with him… If only he played with his opponents less…' Neji thought as he gazed upon the two Shinobis fighting each other.

Sakura's eyes widened as the body of Naruto's opponent grew in size… 'That's just like Chouji…'

>

Back to the match, Naruto was grinning at the challenge that was given to him. 'Hmm, should I use a Summoning, or just rush in like a fool?' Suddenly, Naruto's eyes widened as he got an idea. 'Wait a minute! I know! Summoning it is…'

The Grass Shinobi, towering above Naruto, recognised Naruto's handseals as a Summoning Technique. 'I knew it, Summoning is also a Jounin Level Technique… He's Jounin Level, alright... Pulling off two Jounin Techniques in seconds.'

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!!" Naruto yelled. Smoke obscured everybody's view in the stadium. Neji and Hinata activated their Byakugan to see what Naruto had summoned.

As the smoke cleared, the entire area was filled with killer bees…

Kakashi chuckled as Killer Bees were surrounding him as well. 'Naruto, this is just cruel for your opponent…'

The now gigantic Nimo, who had also transformed himself into a mighty fine tree, was starting to see what Naruto had planned. 'No… He's going to let those bees attack me from the inside… The pain I'll receive will be beyond my belief…' Nimo closed his eyes. "Kai!"

Naruto frowned as Nimo popped back into his original form. Naruto grinned as he let his Killer Bees attack his opponent.

Nimo grinned as the bees came. 'The downside of my Hatsuiku Karamiu is that I can't use any other Jutsus while I'm in that state… But now, I can stop these bees easily…' The Grass Shinobi quickly jumped backwards and performed a few hand seals. "Dokon, Doku no Yoko!"

Naruto's eyes widened at the huge wave of liquid his opponent created. 'Definitely Jounin Level… To create such a huge wave of poison out of nowhere…' Naruto smirked as his automatic defense came to mind. "Let's do this!" He yelled as he saw all of his Killer Bees get overwhelmed by the gigantic wave and popped back to where they came from.

Nimo Mantu was astonished to see red Chakra surround his opponent and protect him from his poison. 'Such a bothersome opponent…'

As soon as the poison wave died down, Naruto approached his opponent in high speed. Nimo could dodge the upcoming knee and even the elbow that came from above, but he was unprepared as a hand grabbed his left leg from underneath and a fist appeared to his left, hitting him in the face.

As Nimo fell on the ground and skidded a few meters ahead, Naruto casually landed where Nimo was standing before. Jumping out from under the ground, the Shadow Clone that had grabbed Nimo by the legs, grinned. The real one and the clone looked at each other, before the clone disappeared.

Naruto looked at the Grass Shinobi and prepared himself again as he rose to his feet. "Enough playing around, Nimo-san!" Naruto yelled as he performed a few handseals. "Youkon, Tateru no Youma!"

Nimo's eyes widened as a huge surge of Blue Chakra surrounded Naruto and whipped forward. The Grass Nin tried to pull a Kawarimi, but the Blue Chakra caught him anyway, because the field was so big…

A moment later, Nimo was stuck in the wall, right in the centre of a huge mark of a claw. Naruto was slowly strolling towards him. "That was my Chakra Claw… Low-levelled, mind you. But you should be down now, seeing that you have already used up a lot of your Chakra." Naruto said as he approached him. "But just to be sure…" The Grass Shinobi saw nothing but darkness as Naruto decked him.

'Still, he did have a formidable opponent…' Kakashi coughed once. "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

* * *

Naruto appeared in the Waiting Room a second later, right in front of Gaara. "You're next Gaara. Afraid?" 

Gaara's first reaction was that he unfolded his arms "I haven't felt fear for a very long time… I doubt I'd feel it in a Jounin Exam. Our match is in the next round, be ready." He said as he disappeared and reappeared in front of Kakashi, in the centre of the stadium.

'Naruto used a technique of the Youkon style… Which, on its turn, is part of the Maenoyo Style… I wonder if he has mastered all parts… If so, our next match will be very interesting…' Gaara thought as he observed his black-haired opponent. 'Female Stone Shinobi…' Gaara sniffed his nose once. 'She smells like nothing…'

"Begin the match!" Kakashi half-yelled.

Gaara did nothing as the girl before him performed a few handseals. "Doton, Jishin Yakshin!"

The red-haired Shinobi watched as the girl stomped the ground with one foot, which caused the ground to rise dramatically towards Gaara. It was as if the ground had turned into water and it was about to drown Gaara, but it was still all stone…

Gaara vanished from view as the stones heading for Gaara crashed against the wall behind where Gaara stood before. As Gaara reappeared to the girl's left and behind Kakashi, Gaara felt that the girl already stood behind him. "Just from that little movement, I now know your speed…"

"Is that so?" Gaara replied and grinned. The girl looked slightly puzzled as from a few stones around, Sand Clones appeared. Gaara turned around to face the girl. "I am a Sand Clone, too… You seem to have lost my movements during my escape from your attack…"

The female Stone Shinobi found herself surrounded by many Sand Clones and repeated her previous attack. "Jishin Yakshin!!" This time, the girl jumped while spinning. As she landed, her attack was now sent to every direction.

"Impressive…" Gaara said a few seconds later, when he found all of his Sand Clones defeated. "With one single attack, you wiped out all of my Clones…" Gaara closed his eyes after he saw the girl smirk. "Don't get arrogant… Let's see if you have what it takes… to stop my next attack…."

The black-haired Stone Nin looked on as Gaara did a few handseals.

"I don't intend on playing with you… I would have if I was allowed to kill you…" Gaara let out as he seemed finished with his handseals. "Youkon, Motsure no Youma!"

The girl looked a bit frightened as yellow Chakra surrounded Gaara for a very short second, before Gaara rammed both his arms through the ground.

And then, the next second, the girl didn't know what to do as yellow Chakra busted through the ground all around her… The girl's eyes widened as the yellow Chakra wrapped itself around her and didn't allow any escape for her. Gaara walked up to her and began to speak. "It takes a lot of power to get out of this bind… Power you obviously do not possess."

The girl tried to break free with all her might, but she just couldn't. "It is pointless…" Gaara whispered as Sand came up from behind him, swept passed him and attacked the girl while she was still wrapped up in Gaara's Chakra. Gaara ignored her screams and walked away. "Kakashi… She will be unconscious soon…"

Kakashi nodded his head. 'He and Naruto… Those handseals they used are unknown to me… and probably to everyone else too. They probably have inherited some techniques from the demons that once housed them… It will be interesting to watch them fight each other…'

* * *

In the Waiting Room… 

'I see… So we've both mastered them… I look forward to our next match.' Naruto thought as he observed Gaara. 'We've both mastered the Youkon Style… But has he mastered the Hanyoun as well?'

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan as the match ended. 'Their techniques can't be copied… I bet they're using forbidden techniques… or something like that…'

Neji sighed. 'They've both developed greatly… I wonder if I can still keep up with them during a fight… I've mastered the Byakugan completely… totally completely… but will it be enough?'

'Gaara… I think he'll be hard to beat for Naruto… I've seen Naruto use the technique Gaara used as well…' Ino thought as she remembered one of the days she had trained with Naruto. 'But I should be more focused on beating my own opponent.'

'There's no way I can beat those two…' Sakura thought. 'Neji and Sasuke… They're both so powerful as well… If I win every match, eventually, I will face Gaara or Naruto…'

Kakashi motioned for the next to contestants to come down. 'Yes, this Jounin Exam will surely become even more amusing… Good luck, Sakura.' He thought as he watched Sakura jump down…

* * *

TBC… 

I know, I know, short chapter, short chapter….

And sorry for the long wait, but… school, exams, homework, work, girls (I wish and all that…

Next chapter will be fights, fights and fights… I originally did have Orochimaru appearing in this chapter, but I chose to stick him in the next chapter. This Book will become more interesting to write… and I hope to read… because there will be a new mighty Clan and Orochimaru will be a very tough villain in this one… And on top of that: Romance!! Kiba with whom?!?!

Pairings will be:

NarutoxIno  
NejixTen-Ten  
GaaraxHinata  
ShikamaruxTemari

Perhaps:

SakuraxLee  
KibaxAyane (Ramen Girl)

In the Next Book, Pairings not sure… small timejump:

KakashixAnko  
JiraiyaxTsunade  
AsumaxKurenai

Oh, if anyone knows any good:

NarutoxKurenai  
NarutoxAnko  
NarutoxTsunade

-fics, then please tell me!

Cause I like it when Naruto suddenly gets an older woman, hehe…

That isn't a bad thing, right?

Oh well, thanks for reading, people! I hope you'll read the next chapter too!

Ja ne


	16. Evil Returns

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait… I was lazy, as usual… Oh, please make sure to check out '**Gogyou**'! Gogyou is a new author name and it is simply a group of writers: Alden-san, Morgri, One Azn Dragon, Refused and me. We have already posted a prologue and chapter 1 should be finished soon as well! Please read Treaty of Five!

Also, This chapter was done about three weeks ago, but I was a bit lazy and didn't often have time to upload it. When I did have the time, something else distracted me… like those cute girls that come around occasionally…

Anyway, here's the chap!

* * *

Just beyond the borders of the Fire Country, five figures ran through the desert-like area, seemingly headed somewhere in a hurry. All of them seemed a bit stressed out. The five of them wore long dark-brown cloaks and were all hooded.

"What does he think he's doing! He's breaking the highest rule!" The one in the lead yelled. It was very apparent that he was enraged. His hands were both balled into fists. "He's opening himself completely up! He isn't allowed to do so!"

"Calm down! There's got to be a reason! He's the youngest of us! And he's more obedient than all of us combined!" The one at the tail yelled back.

"Also… I sense he's in a fight… He's facing someone powerful…" One of the nins in the middle replied, calmer than the two before. "Let's hurry, I also sense… that he's losing…"

"I hope he isn't hurt… We're not easily beaten when completely open… but it's not impossible for us to die…" The one at the back said. The five of them all closed their eyes and reopened them… To see a completely different world… One where they could move faster and more secure in…

-

**There Where When is Now, Book 3  
**_Chapter 16: Evil Returns…_

_-_

"Amazing… I sensed that you were a pretty powerful Shinobi… But I never expected you to be this strong…" A light brown-haired man spoke as he stood in front of a man in a brown cloak.

"I didn't expect to encounter someone powerful enough to force me out of my charade… But don't worry… you'll die here!" A man in a dark brown cloak replied.

An evil chuckle was the other one's comeback. "Don't expect me to instantly believe you now, stranger… Why not tell me your name first?"

The other frowned, before he snarled. "It's a secret, but you may know, because you will die anyway… I am Seishou Soichi. And you, who are you?"

"Seishou, huh? Well… I am a Shinobi from the Leaf… You can call me Orochimaru…" The man answered, before he chuckled. "Now, let me break your spirit down!"

Soichi narrowed his eyes as he stared at Orochimaru. "Spirits of the Seishou Clan… can not be broken!" He roared.

Orochimaru smirked. "I figured as much… Seishou Clan…" He said. 'Amazing… The Seishou are mere wanderers… This one's really powerful for a common wanderer… I only planned on killing this one quickly, but he's a pretty big nuisance.'

Soichi closed his eyes and reopened them to send a withering glare towards Orochimaru…

And then, Orochimaru's eyes widened and he immediately closed his eyes! "Wha… What are you doing!" He screamed. 'Those eyes!'

"Experience the full power of a Seishounin!" Soichi yelled as he ran towards Orochimaru and punched him hard in the face, sending him about twenty feet backwards, before Orochimaru landed on his feet again.

"Ughh… Get out of my head!" Orochimaru screeched, not even attempting to attack Soichi back.

Soichi smirked. "I know you've heard of the Seishou Clan, Orochimaru… Everyone has! But, all of you consider us to be nothing but wanderers… We travel across the lands… And we do! But we are a lot more powerful than you think!"

Orochimaru gritted his teeth as he was completely blind to the world, but saw everything of his own imagination… "So… you're saying that those old rumours are true after all?" Orochimaru screamed. "Are you the only one who has awakened this skill!"

Soichi shook his head, as Orochimaru fell on his knees. "No… We have power… But if we showed it, nothing good came out of it. Look at the Villages, the Countries… Most are at war with each other, because they envy the other's power! How pathetic is that! We hide our powers to live a peaceful life… we all do!"

Orochimaru suddenly chuckled evilly. "You know what, Soichi-kun? A power like this shouldn't be hidden…"

Soichi's eyes widened as Orochimaru rose to his feet.. "You… You shouldn't able to stand up!"

"It's all about mental stress and self-control… I am a genius Shinobi… I can easily figure out a weakness in an attack… Though I must admit… If you had been a bit older, you probably would have made me insane…. But now, your skill won't be able to kill me… and I stand a chance of beating you!" Orochimaru screamed, before he disappeared from Soichi's view!

'Damn… His mind is more powerful than mine, it seems… It takes a lot to overpower a mind of one of the Seishou Clan… This Orochimaru is no normal Shinobi…' Soichi thought, before he scanned his surroundings. 'And now he's also figuring out another weakness of our skill… I have to sense or see him to be able to penetrate his mind… To make him see his own memories, or his own worst nightmares…' Soichi looked all around himself. 'Also, he should be BLIND for at least an hour! How come he can see so fast after facing my eye technique?'

Time stopped when two gigantic snakes rammed themselves through the ground in front of Soichi. 'Wh-what!'

Orochimaru's voice came to his ears. "Let's see how you take on animals!"

Soichi grinned. "Easy! An animal's mind is primitive; they think less than us humans and actually have a higher success of survival in life because of their instincts… But that also means… that they think a lot less, which means, they haven't developed much of a defense against my attacks!"

Orochimaru watched from a distance as both his snakes screamed out in what seemed pain and fell to the ground, both still twitching and wrapping themselves up. Orochimaru shook his head. 'Summonings are useless against him! What a powerful skill he has…'

Soichi's eyes widened a great deal when a humongous shower of electricity came down on him from the sky. 'I… need to run!'

Orochimaru smirked when Soichi jumped backwards to avoid getting hit by a dozen lightning bolts. But when he did, Orochimaru quickly appeared behind him and kicked him hard in the spine. As Soichi fell to the ground, Orochimaru grinned. "You're good… But once your weakness is discovered you're nothing but a disappointment… You should die now…"

"Soichi!" A voice echoed throughout the clearing.

Orochimaru immediately turned towards the one who yelled his opponent's name. He saw that the five newcomers wore the same clothing as Soichi. 'Other members of the Seishou Clan! They're… more powerful, too…' Orochimaru glanced at his fallen adversary. 'This one gave me a very interesting fight… I wonder how much stronger you can get if you develop the skills of this… Seishou Clan…' Orochimaru thought as he watched the other five approach him and Soichi.

"It's been really interesting so far… I expect to be entertained more in the future…" Orochimaru said before he disappeared into the ground.

* * *

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the next two participants of the Jounin Exam facing each other. "Oy, Sasuke!" He yelled, although Sasuke was standing right beside him and Gaara.

Sasuke groaned. "Don't yell, you idiot. I'm standing right next to you. What do you want?"

Naruto just shot his gaze downwards, to the centre of the stadium they were in. "Sakura-chan. How good is she, really?"

Sasuke shrugged. "To us, she's still rather weak, but to others… She can be dangerous."

Naruto immediately frowned. "Wow, what an answer…" Naruto's eyes suddenly turned a little red, but no one noticed, as everyone was looking down at the next two contestants. 'Sakura has light blue Chakra and has perfect control over it… Interesting, she has her Chakra covering her critical areas on her body, but… it's automatic, it doesn't take as much Chakra away as usual…'

Naruto turned his gaze towards Sakura's opponent. 'Her opponent isn't as interesting. He's nowhere near Sakura's level of Chakra Control… But the Chakra of that Akisa… It's flowing through his entire body…'

Naruto's eyes turned blue again, before he turned to Neji. "Neji, can you activate your Byakugan and observe Sakura's opponent? I can't see it as well as you can."

Neji nodded and easily activated his Byakugan. Naruto watched his friend narrow his eyes. "It seems his Chakra isn't flowing through his Chakra Points… I think, in his case, it means he has the natural ability to change his body into whatever he likes. He's a rain Shinobi, so…"

"Water." Naruto finished.

* * *

As Kakashi announced the beginning of the match, Sakura and her opponent immediately started performing handseals. Sakura's opponent suddenly noticed that his vision blurred, but it was only for a second. He finished his handseals and glared at Sakura. "Suiton, Amamizu Atemi!"

Akisa grinned as his right arm changed to water, yet it also remained an arm… And then he shot his right arm towards Sakura. His eyes widened as he also saw his own arm head towards himself. 'What!' He grinned and closed his eyes as his entire body was preparing to absorb his own attack, but the attack never hits. He opened his eyes to see his attack, his arm, slam against the wall behind Sakura, who barely avoided his arm. 'She used Genjutsu to scare me off? Heh, pity, because my own attacks don't work on me…'

Sakura glared at her opponent and performed handseals. 'He isn't afraid of his own attacks, so creating an illusion of him being attacked by his own attacks won't work… How about this!' She thought. "Gihou Uzu!"

Akisa looked amused as Sakura created about five Taiyuu Bunshins and each Clone was performing handseals. "Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" One announced. "Hyouton, Hyouketsu no Jutsu!" A second yelled. "Suiton, Sensatsu Suishou!" A third continued, while the remaining Clones and Sakura herself launched themselves towards Akisa.

Akisa looked amazed to see all of the clones perform such powerful attacks… The fireball approached him from the left, The Ice Beam from the front and the Water Needles from his right. He jumped backwards as all of the attacks landed before him on the ground, but combined together to form a huge wave of mud, ready to swallow Akisa.

Akisa gritted his teeth to jump further backwards, spotted a clone to his right. He easily made it disappear by throwing a Kunai at it. As he landed, he saw the wave of mud die down and splatter on the ground around him. 'I know what she's planning, it won't work!' Akisa thought as he jumped up, dodging the sudden sphere of mud, which was trying to entrap him.

In mid-air, he got rid of another clone, but he was grabbed from behind by the real Sakura and he punched her once in the face. Seeing that she didn't let go, he formed his entire body into water, trying to drown Sakura in his own body of water…

And then, they landed and another sphere of mud was formed exactly where they had landed and entrapped both of them…

Sakura was grinning as she was holding her breath. Akisa was just waiting for Sakura to give up. "Give up, girl. Once you're in this state of my body, you're history. This Genjutsu of a Mud Sphere you created I can easily deal with…"

'Gihou Uzu, RaitonKuchibi!' Sakura thought.

Akisa's eyes widened as the electricity soared through his entire body. 'No! She couldn't have done the handseals… She's unable to move while in the state I am in now… How!'

Akisa immediately let go and saw the last sparks of electricity die down from Sakura's body. Sakura grinned as the Mud Sphere Illusion fell and Akisa felt a Kunai against his throat. Slightly glancing behind him, he saw another Sakura…

'Heh…' Akisa sighed as he watched the other Sakura move in front of him. "Threatening me with a Kunai is useless… In case you didn't notice, I don't really have 'skin', I can change my body to water whenever I want to…"

Up in the stands, Naruto smiled. 'Odd… I have that same ability. The only difference is, there has to be a water attack against me or I have to be performing one…'

Sakura let the Advanced Clone behind Akisa disappear as soon as Akisa turned himself a bit into Water. She observed her opponent more thoroughly. 'His entire body is water… He's clearly afraid of electricity, since he immediately let go of me when I created that illusion of Electricity around my body… But how do I fight something that's too slippery to touch?'

Akisa chuckled. "It's difficult fighting me, huh? My Clan is the most powerful Clan of the Rain Country. You won't be able to beat me with Genjutsu alone…"

Sakura suddenly appeared in front of Akisa and quickly clobbered him, sending him straight into the wall… "Heh, I may not be as outstanding as you are… but at least I don't waste my time talking…" Sakura said as she watched Akisa sluggishly rising to his feet. 'I may not have the same strength as Tsunade, but I have found another way… by gathering Chakra into my fists and adding strength, instead of control. But it takes a lot of Chakra. It's worth it, though.' Sakura thought as she observed the bleeding mess that was Akisa's face.

"Damn you…" Akisa whispered. "How much strength do you possess!" He yelled as he changed both his hands into water and splashed it into his face. 'If my body wasn't already mostly water, that blow would've been even more painful…'

Sakura smirked. 'He needs time to change his body into water… Not much, but still a little; enough to catch him off guard.'

Akisa's eyes widened as Sakura appeared to his left, quickly grabbed his left leg and threw him into the wall again. Sakura inwardly groaned as she saw Akisa quickly forming himself into water again, making the impact on the wall insignificant to him.

Sakura put both her hands together and closed her eyes. 'I still have my Gihou Uzu activated… So…'

Akisa's eyes widened as he saw Sakura do a few handseals and yell. "Gihou Uzu, Rakurai no Jutsu!" He saw lightning bolts being shot out of Sakura's palms, towards him. He quickly ran to the left and right, avoiding them at all costs.

And then, Sakura gathered a lot of Chakra into her right fist and punched Akisa in the stomach with all her might. Akisa looked very surprised as the lightning orbs actually hit Sakura, but… also saw them pass through her. 'G-genjutsu…'

That was his last thought as Akisa again was slammed into the wall, courtesy of Sakura's fist. Sakura smirked at her victory. 'He believed the illusion again, since I was doing handseals this time… But he was too afraid of the electric technique, so he forgot to pay attention to me. He was also too afraid to form his body into water, because then the attack would hurt him even more. And so, I could hit him fully…'

* * *

Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs as Sakura was walking up the stairs towards the waiting room. "Hell Yeah, Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke looked mildly impressed at the hole in the wall, where the medics were pulling Akisa out of. 'Her strength is pretty high…'

"Nice job, Sakura! Though you did take your time… were you afraid?" Ino asked as Sakura stepped into the waiting room.

"Ha! Afraid of some guy who can change into water? That was so easy!" Sakura boasted as she stepped past Naruto, Neji, Gaara and Sasuke with her chin held up high.

* * *

Shikamaru grinned and shook his head at how easy Chouji had defeated his opponent in the next battle. He remembered how easily some Sound-nin had defeated Chouji in the very first Chuunin Exam they had taken. But now, Chouji just beat the record of fastest victory…

Chouji did his Partial Multi-size from the start and shot his arm forward, grabbed his opponent's head and rammed him through one of the walls of the arena… His opponent was instantly out cold. It was strange, since everyone expected a Kawarimi or something of the sort, but when nothing happened and Chouji released his opponent, he just fell unconscious. Chouji won the match.

* * *

Naruto grinned at the young man who stood next to him. "Heh, it's your turn now, Uchiha. Your opponent is Kiba. I heard he has improved a lot in past few years, too…"

Sasuke shrugged. "I can predict everything. I'll defeat the Inuzuka easily."

"Don't get cocky, you arrogant bastard!" Kiba suddenly screamed as he was already standing in the centre of the arena. His hearing was better than the average hearing. "Just get down here and get embarrassed already!"

Naruto chuckled as Sasuke snorted and jumped towards Kiba and Kakashi, the referee.

"I want to do this quick." Sasuke said as he stared Kiba down, Sharingan not activated yet.

Kiba grinned and folded his arms. "Don't worry; I'll defeat you fast then!"

Kakashi stared at the two Chuunins, before he announced the start of the match. "Then… Begin!"

Kiba immediately jumped backwards, performing a few handseals and addressed his dog. "Akamaru! Juujin Bunshin!" Kiba grinned at Sasuke as he finished his handseals. "Shikakyuu no Jutsu!"

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and observed the Chakra around Kiba. 'He's using Chakra to make himself more powerful and faster… His dog…' He thought as he saw that Akamaru had changed into a perfect replica of Kiba. 'is quite the same…'

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as Akamaru and Kiba both did handseals. 'Impressive, the dog knows how to do handseals in that form…'

"Gekido, Kyouran Kougeki!" Kiba yelled, for both him and Akamaru.

Sasuke prepared himself as the amount of Chakra around Kiba and Akamaru increased even further. 'What will he do with so much Chakra?'

Sasuke's eyes widened as both Kiba and Akamaru suddenly disappeared. 'They're both very fast, too…' Sasuke suddenly ducked and watched one of the Kibas flail passed him. 'But I can easily keep up with this speed…'

Sasuke jumped over a spinning Kiba who was yelling "Gatsuuga!", but in mid-air, he noticed that the other Kiba was doing the same thing, only this time Sasuke wouldn't be able to dodge… So instead, he quickly did a few handseals and fired off "Katon, Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as the Kiba simply continued through the fire and slashed across Sasuke's right arm and shoulder. As Sasuke fell down, the second Kiba hit him again with another "Gatsuuga!"

Both Kibas were standing still again when Sasuke got up. "Those hits were luck from your part… I will not let you hit me again…"

The real Kiba chuckled and beckoned for the Uchiha to come and attack him. "We'll see about that!"

Sasuke disappeared and watched, or rather, predicted one of the Kiba's movements and acted by interfering and knocking the Kiba into the wall. The real Kiba snarled. "Akamaru, you okay!" Kiba glared Sasuke down. "I don't want to play too much with you, Sasuke… Let's finish this fast."

Sasuke nodded his head and slipped into a Taijutsu stance, similar to Lee and Gai's. "I couldn't agree more…"

Kiba jumped towards Akamaru and threw a smoke ball at his own feet as he landed. "Let's do it, Akamaru!"

Sasuke saw a huge amount of Chakra being gathered through the smoke with his Sharingan.

"Tourou!" And an instant later… "Ni, Garouga Sankontessou!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw two huge white wolves spinning wildly through the air towards him, but another strange thing was that there were yellow clouds of Chakra, in the shape of claws, shooting out from the two spinning forms as well… And all of them were headed towards him… 'Destructive power… This Jutsu is very useful, but I can't copy it.' The young Uchiha thought as he leaped backwards, avoiding being hit by dozens of Chakra blasts coming from Kiba and Akamaru.

Sasuke jumped to the wall and launched himself to the other side of the arena, aiming to lose the approaching Kiba and Akamaru… 'Damn… even when spinning like that, it seems they know where I'm going!'

Kiba, while spinning, was barely able to grin as he pursued the Uchiha… 'Heh, the pee marking isn't needed anymore, since our noses have developed perfectly now… But the Uchiha, he can predict our movements with that Sharingan of his… That's really difficult to deal with…' Kiba stopped spinning and landed on the ground. Akamaru shortly followed afterwards and landed next to his master, both were still two huge white wolves. "We won't do Soutourou until we are sure we'll hit him… For now… do the Extreme Dynamic Air Marking, Akamaru!"

The duo jumped high and started spinning again. Akamaru was going in a different reaction than Kiba, as Kiba was simply heading for Sasuke. "This time we'll hit you, Sasuke!"

Sasuke snorted and performed a few handseals. "Hyouton, Hyouketsu no Jutsu!"

The Ice Beam coming out of Sasuke's mouth didn't miss its target. Kiba was breaking through the Ice Beam with his attack, but he slowing down and after a few seconds, he came to a stop and fell to the ground, only to fall with his huge head on Sasuke's right foot. Kiba failed to notice that Sasuke was doing another set of handseals. "Katon, Housenka no Jutsu!"

Kiba growled in pain as Sasuke hit him with five Fireballs. Sasuke narrowed his eyes as Akamaru was spinning above him, and then, his eyes widened as it started… raining? Sasuke looked very disgusted as he found out it was Akamaru's pee… Looking around him, he saw that the entire area was covered in it…

Inwardly groaning, Sasuke planned to jump away, but felt something pull at his legs, denying him to jump. Looking down he saw he was plastered to the ground… 'Damn, that pee has this purpose?' Sasuke thought, while behind him, a massive spinning Akamaru was approaching him. Turning his head, he was just in time to realise he was going to get hit…

Falling on his back, Sasuke gritted his teeth as he tried to stand up again. 'Damn this… Sticky… I need to get up!'

"Soutourou!"

Sasuke forced himself to look up and was able to lift his neck… to see a one Two-headed wolf instead of two white wolves. 'They merged?'

"You can't get loose from Akamaru's special pee easily! We'll hit you full force now!" The Two-headed Wolf jumped and descended towards an unmoving Sasuke, as he was stuck to the ground… "Garouga!"

Everyone present felt the tremble in the ground as Kiba's and Akamaru's attack hit their target and rammed him through the ground…

There was a complete silence as everyone was waiting for the smoke to diminish… And then, through the smoke, the crowd witnessed as the huge Two-Headed Wolf was flung against the wall. Naruto shook his head as he saw that Sasuke had activated his Curse Seal to level one. 'Heh, without that Curse Seal, he would have seriously been injured…'

"Ni, Raikiri!" Sasuke yelled as he hovered above the confused Wolf and threw both his small orbs of Lightning towards it…

The Wolf howled in pain and suddenly erupted into smoke. As Sasuke landed, he saw both Kiba and Akamaru again, both in their normal form… 'Ah, it puts stress on them when they're in that state… So being hit means more pain than usual to them… Still…' Sasuke thought as he slightly panted. 'They managed to hurt me pretty badly…' Sasuke turned back to his normal form as he deactivated his Curse Seal again… "They've used a lot of Chakra already… Kakashi, they're out…"

* * *

As Sasuke appeared next to him, Naruto shook his head. "Heh, Dog Boy has become pretty strong, huh? Forcing you to use your Curse Seal, even if it's just level One…" Naruto said with a grin.

Sasuke stared Naruto for one full second and snorted. "I won and that's all that matters for now…" He let out as he walked passed the blonde Shinobi. 'Hmm, ever since I left Orochimaru, using the Curse Seal hurts me even more…'

Naruto and Sasuke both noticed the two next Shinobis hopping down to the arena, preparing for the next match. "Ino's next!" Naruto half-yelled as he walked up to Sakura, who was leaning over the railing overlooking the arena. "She'll do fine!"

Sakura nodded. "Yes… Ino's as skilled as I am!"

Naruto grinned and observed Ino's opponent. 'She's a Sand Shinobi, as her headband indicates… but… Her Chakra seems to be affecting the stones she's standing on…'

Naruto glanced to his right to see Neji standing next to him. "The black-haired girl is Keiko Akeru, a Sand nin, but she's originally from the Stone Village. I did a mission with her; her entire body is made out of stone…"

Naruto nodded. "I see… There are pretty interesting people here."

Neji shook his head. "The girl is rather… weak. She has little Chakra and her techniques are kind of… obvious."

Naruto sighed. "Well, already being stronger than Shinobis like Jiraiya, who can expect real challenges in a Jounin Exam?"

Neji shrugged. "The only matches I'll have to worry about are with you, Gaara and possibly Uchiha Sasuke…"

Naruto chuckled. "Better be careful, he might pull a Curse Seal on you…"

Neji grinned and shrugged again. "I have some new techniques too…"

* * *

Ino's battle with Keiko was really short… The Kusanagi Sword was powerful enough to cut through any Stone Keiko threw at her and when Keiko wanted to physically attack Ino instead, Ino activated her Shintenshin Shield and effectively got control of Keiko's body, making the black-haired girl give up.

Naruto shook his head as Ino took the stairs back to the waiting room. "Damn, what a boring match…"

"Still, Ino has some effective Jutsus… I don't think Lee can defeat her, as she has a perfect defense for physical attacks." Neji commented as Ino returned. "Distance attacks are the only way you can defeat her…"

Naruto shrugged. "There are always more ways than one, I say… Anyway, it's your turn, Neji! Have fun out there!"

Neji smiled and jumped down…

Naruto and Gaara looked at each other and then back at the arena as both of them were smiling. They did a few sparring matches when they arrived in Sand, but all of them hadn't gone all out. So now they were very interested in the upcoming match.

* * *

Neji narrowed his eyes at his opponent. 'There is a strange Chakra surrounding her…' Neji closed his eyes and remembered the summary of Sand Shinobis Gaara had given him, Naruto and Sasuke when they had arrived in this Village. 'The Shinobi with the Stones has already fought and this one is a girl. The other male Sand Shinobi had control over Wind, so this is the girl with control over bacteria…'

"Begin." Kakashi said and slowly walked backwards to give the two Shinobis more space.

Neji already had his Byakugan activated and noticed that his opponent was already sending all kinds of bacteria at him. 'Heh, it seems she has never faced a Hyuga before…'

"Hakkeshou… Kaiten!" The young Hyuga said as he started spinning, knocking everything approaching him away.

Maya Robuki, Neji's opponent, was slightly surprised and made many bacteria surround Neji. 'His body is completely healthy… Nothing but the usual bacterias are wandering on his body…' She observed as Neji had stopped spinning. 'I'll have to get rid of those, because those certain bacteria actually protect his body…'

"Done observing?" Neji suddenly spoke up as he appeared behind Maya. "My Byakugan sees everything… So those germs surrounding me I had already noticed during my Heavenly Spin. This battle is over… You are within the field of my Hakke…"

Neji narrowed his eyes a little and realized his normal 64-points attack wouldn't work… 'I can easily hit all her Tenketsus… but her Chakra flows through the bacteria in and around her… It's best to use the Gentle Fist 64 Combo, then… It could mean death, but I don't think this woman is that weak…' Neji prepared to move, while his opponent stared him down and braced herself. 'The 64 Combo hits all of her organs several times and she won't be able to breathe unless a medic-nin comes in…'

Neji snorted as Maya jumped backwards. "You hesitate too much!"

Neji smirked as he moved to attack… 'No worries… Once my Field of Hakke is activated, everything moves in slow motion to me…'

Maya was silent as Neji attacked…

* * *

"Well damn… That was even more boring than Ino's match!" Naruto yelled at Neji, who was standing in the centre of the arena, towering above an unconscious Maya.

Neji shook his head and in a split second, appeared behind Naruto again. "Hm, it was easy… She was obviously underestimating my skill…"

Sasuke shrugged. "Odd that she doesn't know about the Byakugan. Still, she has a useful skill…"

Neji and Naruto nodded and watched Hinata jump down to face the remaining Sand Shinobi.

"Hyuga Hinata… She's facing one of a powerful Bloodline from the Sand… Dorei… They control the wind around them…" Gaara softly whispered, but everyone heard it. "Hyugas are mostly defensive… While Odei is all offensive, but his defense can be hard to penetrate for someone without any distance attacks…"

Naruto grinned. "Heh, Hinata-chan has plenty of distance attacks…" He said, while Neji added a nod.

* * *

Orochimaru was slowly moving towards a small cottage in the middle of the night. As he opened the door he found himself face to face with five other persons.

"You look tired, Orochimaru-sama…"

Orochimaru immediately glared at the one that had spoken. "I encountered someone interesting… Someone strong enough to harm me… We're moving out tomorrow… My five horsemen."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." All five answered.

Orochimaru grinned and looked at his creations. All of them were very interesting and close to rivalling his own power, maybe even surpassing it… Perfecting the Edo-Tensei sure had its advantages… The Leaf would be in for a big surprise…

* * *

TBC

All right! Everything is according to plan! I've got a huge major ass surprise in store for you readers! I told you guys/girls before, Itachi will not be playing a major role in this book, but he'll be in the next. Orochimaru however, will be powerful villain this time around…

Hope you keep reading and enjoyed this chapter! PS: I know this one was short, but hey! I am way more busy with 'A Motion Too Far' lately…

Sakura's techniques: Gihou Uzu: Technique Swirl… She's in a Genjutsu Fighting Style where she can cast several Genjutsus at once… Takes Chakra, but Sakura has established a perfect level of Chakra Control…


End file.
